Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Interludes – Scene 45

Scene Notes: Arrest number seven is also the reason Rude no longer has a girlfriend.

From Chapter 28: Snow Day

“Now, there are two things ya gotta know here. One… At the time, me ‘n Rude were neighbors.” He paused a moment, grinning to himself, and laughed, “And when I’m done, you’ll understand why he lives across town, now. He was on the ground floor. My place was upstairs, right over his. And two, Rude was seein’ this girl… eh… pretty regularly. Wouldn’t quite call it serious or anything, but… ya know. He liked her. She liked him. She spent the night more than a few times.”

Elena’s eyebrows rose in curiosity. Rude kept to himself so much… for some reason, she’d never really pictured him dating.

---

Lips hungrily claimed his as his fingers twisted into her hair, forcing her closer. He felt her hand drift downward, fumbling with the zipper on his pants for a moment, before finally yanking it downward and slipping inside the fabric. He groaned, eyes squeezing tightly shut and arched into her touch, and she laughed, delighted by his reaction.

Before things could go any farther, however, the unwelcome sound of his PHS broke through the haze of lust, and another groan escaped his lips… though for an entirely different reason.

“Don’t answer it,” she demanded, her fingers squeezing gently, and for a brief moment, he was sorely tempted to obey. The moment passed, however, and with a sigh, he extracted himself from her grasp. He rolled over and reached for his phone.

“… Rude here,” he calmly answered, and anyone listening would never have suspected that he’d just been about fifteen seconds away from getting laid.

“Uh… heh… so, funny story…” a familiar voice began, and the Turk rolled his eyes and cast a quick glance at the glowing red numerals of his alarm clock. Just after midnight.

“Don’t tell me. You need someone to bail you out.”

“… That… and uh… bring me some clothes.”

Rude snorted softly and shook his head. It figured.

“Which station?” he asked, in a resigned voice.

“Sector 4… The one over by the Swan,” Reno answered.

“… On my way.”

“You’re a lifesaver, pal… I owe ya one.”

‘You have no idea,’ Rude thought to himself, but held his tongue, opting instead to simply hang up, and reach for his discarded shirt. When he turned back, Margaret was glaring at him with a very displeased expression on her face.

“Let me guess,” she said, angrily. “That asshole friend of yours needs you to come bail his worthless, drunk ass out of jail. Again. And you’re just gonna do it. Again. Why can’t that obnoxious little leech find someone else to take advantage of for once?!”

Rude shrugged his shirt back on, and found his shoes.

“Reno doesn’t take advantage of me,” he replied.

“Bullshit. Rude, that idiot blew a hole in your ceiling two weeks ago and didn’t even apologize! And now he expects you to come post bail in the middle of the night? Why do you put up with that little creep?!”

The Turk shoved his phone into his pocket, along with his wallet, and grabbed his keys.

“Because he’s my friend,” he said, “I’ll be back.”

He moved to kiss her, but she pulled away.

“I won’t be here.”

“…”

“I mean it, Rude. I’m sick of this. If you leave right now, I’m done. I won’t be here when you get back, and you can go right ahead and lose my number. If you’d rather spend all your time cleaning up that disgusting little pervert’s messes, I don’t want any part of it. It’s me or the slum rat, Rude.”

“… Don’t call him that.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Why not? That’s exactly what he is, and you know it. You should just let him sitin jail for the night instead of running to his rescue for once. It’s not going to kill him, and maybe he’ll finally get the message that you don’t like being treated like a doormat!”

Rude swallowed sharply. He didn’t want to lose Margaret. The two of them just seemed to… click… from the moment they met, and she was the first girl he’d ever had real feelings for. He wasn’t sure yet where the relationship was going… but he desperately wanted to find out.

But Reno… Reno clicked with him, too. He’d hadn’t actually known him that much longer than Margaret, to be honest… but he felt like he’d known him half his life. And for someone as painfully shy as he could be at times, that sort of friendship was hard to come by.

He sighed, frozen for the moment in indecision.

---

Reno jumped up at the sound of the cell door opening.

“Oh, thank Ifrit…” It was about damn time. He smirked and stood up, heading for the exit.

“Not you,” the officer stated, and cast a glance over the redhead’s shoulder, and motioned his cellmate toward the corridor. “You. You’re bail’s been paid. You can go.”

The Turk grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest as the other man in the station’s drunk tank smugly got up and walked out. As he passed by the redhead, he swatted him on the ass and leered drunkenly.

“Almost sad to leave such a pretty… lady… behind,” he cackled.

“Keep your hands to yourself, pal… unless you wanna lose ’em,” Reno growled… though it was hard to look intimidating in a miniskirt and halter top. That was the absolute last time he was going to that club. He still didn’t know which of the fuckers had run off with his own clothes. And his wallet, his phone, his keys… his dignity…

The only answer he received was a loud laugh, as the other man was escorted out.

Where in the nine hells was Rude, anyway?! He’d called him almost half an hour ago! A few short minutes later his question was answered.

“Donovan! You’re out of here, too!” the officer called out as he returned to release the redhead from his cage.

“‘Bout damn time…” Reno muttered scurrying into the hall and following the officer up to the front desk, where he easily spotted his fellow rookie waiting for him. “The hell took ya so long?”

Rude didn’t answer… he just looked the younger Turk over for a moment and shook his head before tossing him the set of workout clothes he’d brought with him. Reno grinned and gratefully pulled them on over what little he was currently wearing. Rude wordlessly turned and strode out to the street where his truck was waiting, the redhead not far behind.

“Aren’t you even gonna ask?” Reno asked, playfully. “It’s a hell of a story…”

Rude turned the key in the ignition and and put the vehicle in gear, pulling out of the parking space and into traffic… not that there was much at nearly one in the morning.

“So I met this girl…”

“I don’t care,” Rude stated, cutting him off, and the redhead blinked in surprise. He looked up at him, apologetically.

“Okay… so you’re obviously pissed at me. I mean… I know it’s late ‘n all.”

“Margaret dumped me.”

“… Oh. Ouch. Yeah, I can see why you might not be in the best of moods.”

He’d sort of thought Rude might really be falling for that girl. They’d been seeing more and more of one another lately. To be honest, Reno wasn’t particularly fond of Margaret. She was awfully high-strung. Not to mention high-maintenance. And he was pretty sure she hated his guts. But she did seem to genuinely likeRude, and she made him happy. And that was what was important.

“So… what happened?” Reno ventured. Rude’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t answer right away. “Rude? Come on, man… What’s the matter? There anything I can do? ‘Cause you know I got your back… Just ask.”

Rude gave a soft sigh and shook his head.

“It was you or her,” he said at last, as they exited the freeway and stopped at a light.

“What’d’ya mean it was me or her?” Reno hesitantly asked.

“… She told me if I went to get you, she wasn’t going to be there when I got back.”

The redhead stared at him for a moment, disbelievingly. He’d know that he wasn’t exactly Margaret’s favorite person… but damn.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” he said, still staring at his friend, wide-eyed. “Why the fuck didn’t you just leave my sorry ass to rot? I’m not worth givin’ up somethin’ like that…”

Reno sank back against the seat as they turned a corner. He could already feel the sharp stab of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He’d just ruined his best friend’s relationship.

“Fuck… I’m sorry, Rude.” It was barely more than a whisper. His friend didn’t answer for a moment, and instead turned into the parking lot of Reno’s apartment building.

“… Don’t be.”

The redhead looked up in surprise.

“It was my choice, and I chose my friend. My best friend. You’re… like family.” He managed a somewhat sad smile. “Probably wouldn’t have worked out with Margaret anyway.”

~fin~