Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The White House. Washington D.C., United States of America. November 16, 1995.

Chelsea Clinton was in her room, sitting at her desk, struggling with some civics homework. The daughter of the president of the United States of America, struggling with civics? It was the purest form of irony if there was such a thing. Normally, her mother, who was quite skilled at this type of thing, would be willing to help, but she was at some kind of political fundraising event. Her mom was always doing a lot of those.

Normally, the people in charge of these types of things would prefer her father; him being the president of the United States of America and all, but his schedule was often so packed full that he couldn't make it to every single event that wanted him to, so the First Lady was often a consolation prize. Chelsea was just thankful that she didn't have to accompany her mom to said event. Most of the people there were her parent's age and any other 15 year old girl would be bored out of her freaking skull.

"Gah, this is so freaking complicated!" Chelsea exclaimed as she slammed her textbook shut in frustration. She took a deep breath as she knew that bitching about it wasn't going to help the situation.

"I need a break…" Chelsea whispered to herself when as if chosen by fate, she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in." Chelsea said as the door opened to reveal one of the secretaries within the Oval Office.

"Excuse me, Miss Clinton, you've received some mail." She said as she put the 3 letters on the edge of her desk before walking back out of Chelsea's room and closing the door.

"Thank you." Chelsea said as she leaned over and looked through the letters. The first 2 were from a couple of friends from Little Rock, Arkansas. Most of Chelsea's friends from Little Rock had fallen by the wayside when her old man made the leap from Governor of Arkansas to President of the United States, but a few still kept in touch with her and she was most thankful for them. 

After she had read and replied to her friend's letters, the picked up the 3rd one. It was addressed Chelsea Clinton, The White House, America. When she looked on the back to see who had sent it, she saw the names Erin Quinn and Orla McCool from Derry.

"Derry?" She asked herself in confusion as she had been told by her parents that they would be going to Ireland in a couple weeks to help establish peace between the British and the Irish Republican Army. It made no sense to Chelsea. She didn't know anybody in Derry and she had never been to Derry in her life, so why would 2 girls from Derry be sending her a letter?

"Only 1 way to find out." She told herself as she opened up the letter and began to read.

"Dear Chelsea, our names are Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle, and James, and we come from a place called Derry. We understand you will soon be travelling here with your ma and da, and if they're anything like our parents, well, you'll be bored out of your tree. We thought you might like to hang out with us.

We could take you swimming in Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre. It has this really class wave machine and afterwards, there's a wide range of drinks and snacks available in the cafe. We were also thinking it must be pretty difficult for a girl like yourself to meet boys. Being the president's daughter would intimidate a lot of fellas, we imagine, so if you want to practice any moves on James, feel free. He's all yours. In the evening, we could go to the Strand Cinema and watch a movie; you can choose. Anyway, let us know, and have a safe flight.

Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James.

PS, we think your hair is absolutely cracker

Chelsea couldn't help but giggle at the letter. These girls and their guy friend seemed like fun people. For a brief moment, she thought of accepting. However, as soon as the thought came into her head, it was attacked by the forces of reality. Her parents would never allow such a thing, that much was certain. They were extremely strict parents when it came to making sure that their daughter didn't cause any scandal. Besides, if her parents didn't veto the plan, the secret service certainly would. They were all sticklers for the rules. To be fair, Chelsea knew that her parents wanted her to have normal experiences and tried to go lax on Secret Service rules when the risk to her safety was minimal. But hanging out in a war torn city with 5 strangers? Her parents and the secret service would back each other to the T on this.

But Chelsea didn't care. She was tired of not having many friends. She was tired of having to entertain the friends that she did have at what seemed like a museum and a prison. Chelsea knew damn well that the day would come when she was no longer a teenager, but an adult with adult responsibilities. Work, marriage, kids. She would have to grow up and live in the real world. Before that happened, Chelsea wanted, no needed, to do at least 1 crazy, spontaneous thing. Just so she could say that she had taken a chance; a leap of faith. With determination in her heart, she gather a pen and paper and wrote a reply:

Dear Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle, and James,

I truly appreciate the invitation to experience the real Derry with you. My parents would probably flip out if they knew that I was even considering this...so don't tell them. I'm all for it. I'll do my best to give my Secret Service detail the slip. Meet me outside Guildhall Square. I'll be wearing a green bandanna on my head.

Sincerely,

Chelsea C.

Chapter Text

Quinn family home. Derry, Republic of Ireland. The day before the Clintons come to Derry.

"The President of the United States, Bill Clinton, a committed supporter of the peace process, will visit with both sides of the community during his trip to Belfast before travelling to Londonderry..." the radio announced as the Quinn family was in the kitchen having their breakfast. Ma Mary was busy getting her house into tip top shape as everyone was preparing for the president's arrival in their own way. Eventually, Grandpa Joe cam rushing in with excitement.

"He's here, he's here, He's landed!" Joe exclaimed.

"I know he has, Da! and look at the state of the place!" Mary exclaimed in frustration as she cleaned.

"I better tell Jim across the road!" Jim exclaimed back as he rushed out.

"Christ, I'm at my wits' end!" Mary declared as her husband watched her with disbelief.

"Firstly, he's not coming to Derry until tomorrow." Gerry explained.

"Have you see the heck of those skirting boards, Gerry?" Mary asked anxiously. "I'd need a week to tackle them."

"And secondly, I think it's unlikely he'll call to our house." Gerry pointed out.

"He might call, Gerry." His wife shot back.

"Aye, he might take a notion." Aunt Sarah added as her daughter Orla held her cigarette.

"I think presidential visits are quite carefully planned." Gerry explained calmly. "I'm not sure there's an awful lot of room for notion-taking.

"Hope you're right, Gerry, for it's like Beirut in here." Mary griped as she held a pair of mugs in her hand. "I mean, when was the last time these were bleached? I couldn't hand Hillary that."

"I'd say she keeps her place shining, Mary." Sarah commented.

"Sure she'd put you to shame." Mary muttered as she took the mugs to be cleaned as Joe came back in.

"Right, we need to clear this table." Joe commanded. "Jim's bringing his equipment over."

"What equipment?" Gerry asked.

"Them aul radio transmitters he collects." Mary answered. "Him and Daddy think they can tap into the CIA's system on them."

"Excuse me?" Her husband asked in shock.

"Jim really buzzes off radio contact." Sarah remarked.

"You can't tap the CIA, Joe." Gerry pointed out, trying to sound reasonable.

"It'll make tracking Clinton down much easier." Joe reasoned.

"Right...I don't think the CIA enjoy people tracking the President down." Gerry explained. "I think they can get funny about that type of stuff."

"Let them try and bloody stop me." Joe challenged.

"They will stop you, Joe...they're the CIA!" Gerry pleaded.

"I won't miss my chance, not again!" His father in law vowed. "You hear me, boy?"

"What the hell is he planning to do?" Gerry inquired.

"When JFK came to Dublin, Uncle Colm met him, and Daddy didn't." Mary explained.

"Things are gonna be different this time, I tell you." Joe promised.

"JFK spoke to Colm?" Gerry asked in amusement. "Christ, that man didn't have much luck, did he?"

"I'm not sure any of us will get to meet Bill or Hillary." Erin remarked as she ate her breakfast.

"Some sense at last." Gerry said with relief.

"They'll be far too busy, that's why we've decided to take Chelsea off their hands." Erin remarked with a smirk.

"What?" Gerry asked in disbelief.

"We're gonna bring her to Lisnagelvin swimming pool." Orla said.

"The wave machine's been fixed." Erin added.

"Lovely." Mary remarked with a smile.

"I hope she remembers her swimming cap, Erin." Orla cautioned. They've gotten dead strict about swimming caps."

"And that wain has some head of hair on her." Sarah added.

"Dear Jesus." Gerry muttered as there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Erin, go fetch the post." Mary demanded as her eldest daughter rolled her eyes and went to the door to meet the postal carrier.

"Aye, mail call for Erin Quinn and Orla McCool." The post Man said as he handed her a letter. "Apologies for the delay lass, the letter got delayed because it took a tick to verify who it was from." Erin surveyed the envelope that was addressed to Erin Quinn and Orla McCool in Derry. She was utterly stunned to see the return address on the back:

The White House. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20500.

"Bloody Hell..." Erin muttered as her spirits rose. She quickly raced into the kitchen and snatched a knife to open said letter.

"What the blazes are ya doing?" Gerry inquired as Erin opened the envelope and began to read.

"It's Chelsea, she's finally written back!" Erin exclaimed with glee as Orla snatched the letter to read it herself. "She's coming across the pond to hang out with little Ol' me!"

"She didn't say if she's bringing her swimming cap." Orla pointed out with concern.

"Hold up, Chelsea actually sent you a letter?" Gerry asked in surprise.

"Why wouldn't she, you bloody eejit?" Joe snapped at his son in law. "Our wains will show Ol' Bill's wain a bloody good time."

"I'm not saying that they wouldn't Joe, I'm just finding it a little unusual that her parents are letting her go off with completely strangers is all." Gerry pointed out.

"I got to ring the girls, we need to prepare a full itinerary for Chelsea!" Erin announced as she ran to the phone while Orla was right behind her. Erin immediately dialed up Clare who picked up after a couple rings.

"Hello?" Clare asked.

"Chelsea wrote back!" Erin declared with excitement.

"Sweet suffering Jesus!" Clare exclaimed with joy.

"Call Michelle and James, get them over here now!" Erin ordered as she hung back up.

Chapter Text

Derry, Northern Ireland. Thursday. November 30, 1995.

Chelsea tried her best not to fidget as she sat in the presidential limo after disembarking with her parents off of Air Force One. She had instructed the girls where she would meet them, but how she would actually get there was another story entirely.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you daddy, as moral support?" Chelsea asked hopefully.

"No darlin, it's going to be a complete zoo and you'll be bored to tears, I promise." Bill answered, shooting down her hopes of getting a ride to the appointed place.

"Don't worry honey, I'm sure we can find something to do at the hotel." Hillary said, trying to console her. Chelsea gave her mother a smile and a nod so as not to raise suspicions. Eventually, the Clintons arrived at the Bishop's Gate hotel. It was supposedly one of the best hotels in the city and it had already been secured for their stay. As the first family got out of the limo, they were greeted by the usual paparazzi and over a hundred cameras. The First Lady quickly ushered her daughter into the hotel, avoiding the endless questions.

Once they had checked into the suite, Chelsea began to formulate a plan for how in the Hell she was going to leave the hotel without being noticed.

"I'm going to see what snacks they have downstairs, do you want me to bring you back anything hun?" Hillary asked as Chelsea got an idea.

"Surprise me!" Chelsea called as she heard her mother leave the room. Once she was gone, Chelsea got to work. She knew that just walking out of the hotel was not an option with the secret service agents swarming about the place. Thus, she was gonna have to go old school and climb out the window, via bedsheets. She had read about in a book and remembered what the proper method was.

First, Chelsea Estimated the distance from her window to the ground. The suite was on the top floor so Chelsea assumed that it was probably like twenty five feet or so. Then, she gathered the bedsheets together. Luckily, they were king sized sheets which provided maximum length. Chelsea then used square knots to tie said sheets together. She promptly Secured one end of her sheet rope to the radiator near the window. Then, Chelsea began to Lower herself out the window while holding onto the bedsheet rope.

"Oh crap, oh crap...I can't believe I'm doing this." Chelsea panicked as fear started to take hold. One wrong move and she would fall to the concrete below. If the fall didn't kill her, her parents would. As she tried to calm her nerves, Chelsea remembered to snake the bedsheet between her feet to help control her descent as best she could. After what felt like hours of inching her way down, Chelsea finally got to a point where she could jump to the ground. As her feet hit the ground, her fear was replaced by sheer adrenaline.

"I did it...I freaking did it!" She exclaimed with excitement as she quickly sprinted away from the Bishop's Gate hotel. As Chelsea ran through the streets of Derry, nothing could dampen her excitement. She was finally on her own, no parents and no secret service telling her where to go or what to do. Chelsea quickly tied the green bandana that she had promised to wear around her large head of hair; so as to not be recognized. After weaving her way through the city, Chelsea finally made it to the agreed upon spot. Everyone was gathering to hear her dad, so no one really took notice of her.

Chelsea stood about for 5 minutes until she saw a group of 4 girls and 1 guy walking towards Guildhall Square. They seemed to be wearing knockoff American wear as they moved closer. One of the girls pointed out Chelsea and they all got so excited as they rushed over to her.

"Chelsea?" A husky blonde with 2 pony tails in her hair asked hopefully.

"So, I assume that boy is James, what about the rest of you?" She inquired as the boy offered a wave.

"I'm Erin and this is my cousin Orla." The skinny blonde said as she pointed out herself and the wide eyed brunette. "This is Claire and Michelle."

"Hi." The girl with dark and long curly hair said with a grin.

"Hi...I was worried that I wasn't going to make it. The secret service was swarming the hotel." Chelsea explained anxiously.

"How did you get away?" James inquired, eager to know.

"I tied my bedsheets together and tapped out of the hotel window. It was so much harder than it looks in the movies." Chelsea admitted as all 5 mouths went utterly agape.

"Sweet suffering Jesus..." Claire muttered in shock.

"Our new friend's a bloody badass!" Michelle exclaimed with pride.

"I always knew you were cracker Chelsea." Erin replied as the Derry girls gathered around their new friend and began their quest to give her a day in Derry she wouldn’t soon forget 

Chapter Text


Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre. Derry, Northern Ireland. Later that day.


"The first thing that we got to do is take ya to the Lisnagelvin swimming pool." Erin said as the 6 walked together, arm in arm towards the leisure Centre.


"Did ya bring yer swimming cap, they're dead strict 'bout swimming caps." Orla pointed out as Chelsea heaved a sigh.


"I didn't think of that...or a swimsuit." She admitted as Erin patted her arm.


"Don't have a cack attack, we can just buy ya one at the stand they got." She insisted as the gang eventually made their way to the leisure center. As they went inside, the sounds of people having wet fun could be heard all over.

Chelsea's face lit up as she saw all the different slides; sliding had always been her thing. Sure enough, there was a stand offering swimsuits. Chelsea didn't have much money, but she had enough to cover a suit and a swimming cap. Chelsea's 1 piece swimsuit was light green with a 4 leaf clover in the middle
.

"Ooh, that's so class!" Claire exclaimed after everyone had changed into their respective suits.


"You look...really beautiful." James stuttered as everyone could tell he had an insta crush on the president's daughter.


"For feck's sake James, would ya quit drooling all over the place?" Michelle snapped as Chelsea hid a blush as she got a good look at his torso. She really hadn't dated many boys; even before her father became the President, but the girls had said that James was up for practicing on, hadn't they?


After the girls had changed, they all made their way into the water area. True to form, the slides were a Hell of a ride. Michelle told Chelsea that the fellas who had built the slide had applied some kind of special grease on said slides; so that when they mixed with a person's natural body oils, it made them slide down even faster than just your average ordinary every day water slide.


"Holy crap!" Chelsea exclaimed as she hugged her body as she sped down one of the water slides like a wooden car at a pinewood derby race. As she came down, Chelsea very nearly ended up barreling right into James as he tried getting close to the water slide to get a good look at Chelsea's aquatic descent.


"Bloody Hell, you nearly bashed me in!" James exclaimed with laughter in his voice so that she would know he wasn't pissed.


"Sorry James, after I started down the slide there really wasn't any way of controlling it!" Chelsea exclaimed in return as she quickly touched her bright green swimming cap to make sure that none of her wild red curly hair had fallen out of it; because getting all that hair underneath the swimming cap had been one Hell of a challenge indeed.


"Michelle said that when she barreled into me one time, but I thought she was having me on so that she could get a free shot in on me." James remarked as they looked over at miss Michelle Mallon who was looking at some handsome lads, showing off her blue bikini as if to let them know that she was most certainly down to shag.


Orla meanwhile was practicing the dead man's float with her face down in the water as if she had actually drowned. For Chelsea, who was not used to Orla's antics, it was a bit worrysome; but for everyone else, there was very little that Orla McCool could do that would honestly surprise anyone anymore.


Meanwhile, Erin and Claire were engaging a breath holding contest to test each other's lung power. After a few minutes, Erin Quinn came up and gasped for precious air as she was forced to concede to Claire Devlin who looked absolutely pleased with herself and the victory she had achieved.


"They got places like this in Washington D.C.?" James asked as they got into the wave pool which was just starting to be churned up.


"There's Six Flags America, it's about 15 minutes out from the capital...but I'm not allowed to go." Chelsea answered as the smile that had been in her face for most of the day had finally fallen.

"What do you mean, you aren't allowed to go?" James asked in confusion. He assumed that President Bill Clinton, and by extension his family, could do whatever, wherever, and whenever.


"I mean, I can't leave the White House except to go to school or if I'm with members of the Secret Service." Chelsea insisted as Erin and Claire waded over to them as the wave moved them up and down amongst the other children.


"Your Ma and Da don't let you leave the White House?" Claire asked in shock as Chelsea shook her head as the wave took them by surprise and flung them onto the walkway; along with Orla and Michelle.


"My Ma can be insufferable, but yer Ma sounds wile." Erin said as they got to their feet as she wouldn't have been able to bear such terrible conditions as not being allowed to leave the house at all.


"To be honest, it makes so much sense why you'd want to hang out with some random strangers." James said with sympathy.


"How are we strangers, we told her our names in the letter?" Orla argued.


"Exactly, grow a fecking brain James." Michelle snapped as James rolled his eyes.


"So...what do they have at the snack bar?" Chelsea asked, trying to defuse the tension.


"The best smoothies in Derry, come on." Claire said as she pulled Chelsea in the direction for bar.

Chapter Text

Fionnula's Fish and Chips. Derry, Northern Ireland. Later that afternoon.

After enjoying their smoothies, the Derry girls and James got dressed in their normal clothes and began making their way back to the Quinn house. It had taken a while for Chelsea to get her wild hair out of the swimming cap and back to its normal curly texture, but it had been well worth it. Going swimming at Lisnagelvin had been the most fun that Chelsea'd had in quite a while.

"You were right, that was so much fun!" Chelsea exclaimed as she walked arm and arm with Erin and Orla.

"Told ya, the wave pool was cracker!" Clare exclaimed as the sky started to get orange with the setting of the sun. Chelsea knew that her parents were probably worried sick about her. She hadn't called or even left a note when she had snuck out of the hotel, but she couldn't risk the secret service bringing her back kicking and screaming. This was her first shot at having free time with her new friends and by God, she was going to make the most of it.

All of a sudden, the sound of growing stomachs was heard and the pain of hunger was felt amongst them.

"Oh man...i'm so hungry I could eat a horse." Chelsea remarked as her thoughts immediately turned to finding some food and right soon.

"There's Fionnula's; the most class chippie in Derry." Orla remarked dreamily as she remembered the taste of the delicious fish that only she could make.

"Until Michelle got us all banned fer life." Erin grumbled as it had been a while now and she still missed the taste of Fionnula's fish and chips.

"I told ya, I didn't think that the flames on the liquor were gonna be that hot; you don't have to keep raging, Erin." Michelle snapped as she had clearly been read the riot act over whatever she had done that led to Fionnula banning them from her fish and chips place sufficiently enough.

"I miss her chips so much..." Clare whined as the ban had clearly been especially hard upon her.

"To be honest...I haven't really minded fhat much." James said with a shrug before turning to Chelsea. "Her food was much too greasy anyway."

"Don't listen to him Chelsea, the English wouldn't know good food if it bit them in the arse; eejit." Michelle snapped at her cousin who promptly shut his mouth.

"Fionnula didn't ban me, did she?" Chelsea asked with a mischievous grin on her face. "I could get the food for us, i brought all my birthday money and my parents got it traded for pounds."

"Oh my God...you are so cracker!" Erin exclaimed as she wrapped the first daughter into a massive bear hug.

"Are we sure that this is going to work, what if Fionnula finds out what Chelsea's doing; she'll get banned too!" James protested, mainly because he didn't want to have to be forced to eat the greasy food.

"She'll be fine, Dicko. We'll stay out of sight and Fionnula will never know." Michelle insisted.

"Go in and just get as much fish and chips as you can." Erin commanded as Chelsea went into the chippie. The girls waited for about 15 minutes until Chelsea emerged with 2 bags filled with fish and chips.

"Praise be, we're eating like queens tonight!" Orla declared as the girls and James quickly gave Chelsea a much deserved group hug.

Quinn house. Later that evening.

Mary, Gerry, Joe, Sarah, and little Anna were waiting at home for their girls. When a knock at the door was finally heard, Mary rushed to open said door and found her daughter and her friends.

"Where in the blazes have ya been, we've been having a cack attack wondering where you lot were!" Mary exclaimed as the girls and James quickly got inside the Quinn home.

"We stopped at Fionnula's and got supper!" Orla exclaimed as James and Clare brought in the big bags of fish and chips; to the surprise of everyone present.

"Sweet suffering Jesus, how did ya get Fionnula to lift the ban?" Aunt Sarah asked in pure astonishment.

"We didn't...we had ourselves a decoy." Erin said with excitement as Chelsea followed the girls unto the kitchen where the Quinn-McCool family was gathered.

"Who is this wain?" Grandpa Joe inquired.

Only the Chelsea Clinton in the flesh, Granda!" Erin exclaimed with pride as she didn't know of anyone else who could say that they'd had the first daughter over for supper.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" Gerry exclaimed as he had not believe that Erin and her gal pals would actually get to meet Chelsea; even after they had gotten her letter.

"Please, please, come in and rest yourself." Mary said with eagerness as she wanted their houseguest to be comfortable as the food from Fionnula was divvied up amongst everyone; except James, who just had a couple slices of toast.

"Holy crap, this is delicious. No wonder people in the UK love to eat fish and chips." Chelsea remarked as she dug into her portions.

"I told ya that Fionnula's food was class." Clare said with a grin as she too ate heartily.

"Um...Chelsea, I was just wondering: do your ma and da know that you're here?" Gerry asked as Chelsea immediately clammed up. She didn't want to lie to Erin's old man, but she knew that if she told him the truth, he would contact her parents and that would put an end to her Irish adventure right then and there.

"Of course Bill knows she's here, Christ, why do ya have ta be such a sinpleton?" Joe asked, swooping into save the day as Chelsea went back to filling up on fish and chips; grateful that the topic was now closed for discussion.