Work Text:
Friends Who Care
Dylan
It just figured that the other shoe would drop in the loudest, messiest way possible. Just another twist on the McKay rollercoaster.
He was stuck in his head thinking about how connected he has felt to the Walshes over this last school year, and how alone he will feel once they leave that he didn’t even notice Kelly plop down next to him on the lawn. They sat in silence for a few minutes as they just processed the news that the Walshes are moving back to Minnesota.
“I tried asking Jackie, you know,” she muttered after a bit. “About having Bren move in with us. It was the first solution that popped into my head. She shot that down, though. Said something about—” Kelly’s voice lowered and wavered, worry and guilt twisting her expression. “—too many people in the house would end up messing with her recovery.”
Dylan looked over at Kelly and shook his head, “I told Bren that Jackie was right. Big changes like that aren’t good for recovery.” He shrugged briefly, “Trust me, I would know.”
Kelly looked away quickly, almost as though she didn’t want him to see something specific on her face. Pity, maybe?
Sitting without speaking for a minute as he thought about all of the changes they'd gone through this last year. He had finally started to feel like he belonged somewhere with this group, but he kept going back to one thought. What if when the Walshes leave everyone else does too?
“We can’t do much about it, can we? Short of—I don’t know, begging? Sabotage? Chaining them to the driveway?”
Kelly laughed. “Like a human chain? You, me, Donna, Steve and David Silver?” She tried to act like she always did when mentioning him, but somehow the exaggerated disgust felt flat to Dylan’s ears. “So much for an army, McKay.”
“You’re forgetting Nat, Kelly. I don’t know, I just… like knowing I can count on everyone.”
“I know the feeling,” Dylan caught the familiar tone in her voice. It was the same one that had been replaying in his mind since they told them the news. The Walshes were like a family to Dylan, and now he realized that Kelly felt the same way.
“Wanna give me five over it? Say you’ll check up on me anyway?” Dylan caught the brusqueness in his own voice and wished he could, somehow, effectively edit himself. “I’m sorry, Kel. You didn’t offer Jim the promotion.”
“No I didn’t,” Kelly’s tone sounded different than it usually did, and he was struggling to place it. Was it frustration? Or was it something else entirely?
“You’re struggling too, aren’t you? The gang we have didn’t really exist before.” He grinned. “I mean, except for you and Donna obviously. Would you guys give me and Steve pointers? I know it sounds insane, but you might veto Silver and Nat isn’t a student anymore, so… I’ll have to make do.”
Kelly laughed at the mention of Dylan and Steve hanging out just the two of them, and it was the first time throughout this entire conversation she looked truly happy. It may have only been a minute but it was nice to see her smile. “We’ve been friends since we were kids,” she finally answered. “But I don’t think you and Steve will want to do the same things Donna and I do.”
Dylan pretended to think it over. “Let me guess, you're afraid that if I get him into surfing he'll have a hive that follows him around. Are you saying he's right and you're jealous?”
“Ah-ha. Hilarious.” Kelly deadpanned without missing one beat. “I was actually worried about you two breaking a board over each other's heads.”
Dylan couldn’t argue with that because she was right. He and Steve didn’t hang out in the same crowd before Brandon got there, and they don’t really share a lot of the same interests. “I would never do that to a surfboard.” He gave her his best Dylan McKay smirk.
Kelly mock gasped, the banter now flowing freely between them. It looked like she was still worried about the Walshes, but she was also hopeful that the little group they had formed would endure somehow. “Are you telling me something does equate to sacrilege for you? You actually care? Are we alerting someone?”
“Kelly Taylor, you’ve known me since kindergarten and you still don’t know how important surfing is to me? I’m hurt.” He joked lightly with her. Maybe they would manage to stay friends with the Walshes gone. Maybe things didn't have to change.