Friends Old and New
Oct. 24th, 2008 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tellshannon815Title: Friends Old and New
Fandom: Lost
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hurley, Johnny. Mentions of Charlie, Libby and Starla, also Oceanic Six.
Spoilers: Everybody Hates Hugo, all other Hurley episodes, plus all the way up through S4.
Summary: Post rescue Hurley is reunited with Johnny, yet finds himself comparing their friendship to that he had with Charlie.
Hurley's only been home a few days when Carmen sticks her head around his door and tells him he has a visitor. Another reporter, he initially thinks. That's been happening a lot lately.
But instead, he's greeted by the sight of his old friend, Johnny.
He blinks in surprise. Johnny's about the last person he ever expected to see. If Hurley's honest, he's barely given him a thought these last few weeks. Just when that whole business with the hatch first happened, and then briefly when he was arguing with Dave, that was it.
Johnny's the first to break the silence. "It's good to see you, man."
Hurley smiles weakly. "Good to see you too." He awkwardly gestures in the direction of the kitchen, inviting Johnny in.
Then silence, not knowing what to say.
I never had any of these awkward silences with Charlie. We could talk for hours about the dumbest things, like that whole superhero conversation. Jin and Desmond probably thought we were nuts.
Johnny and I used to be able to have conversations like that too, before I won the lottery.
I don't know what changed.
Johnny glances around him at the Reyes mansion. "Bet this is a bit of a shock, after what you were used to back there."
Hurley nods. "You got that right. I used to dream about this." Actually, he thinks, those few days at the Others' barracks had got him used to sleeping in a bed again.
Johnny nods. "So, how'd you survive? I mean, I saw the TV footage, but..."
"Yeah, what you saw, that's what happened."
Hurley knows he should get used to telling the story, to making people believe Jack's version, but not today.
He's still not comfortable with the whole thing. But here he is, lying to the guy he once thought was his best friend.
Hurley still remembers the tension between them right after he won the lottery. It had only been a couple of days before Johnny had come round, apologised, said he'd over reacted. And Hurley had apologised too, said he should have trusted Johnny and told him the truth.
But in the end, it wasn't Hurley's lie that came between them. It was Johnny's.
If Charlie was here, I wouldn't have to lie. Maybe it'll get easier, once I've told the story again and again. I don't know.
I remember when I first told Charlie about winning the lottery. He didn't believe me, and was particularly pissed because he'd just told me his own biggest secret. But all that really mattered was that I trusted him enough to tell him.
I wonder whether, if we'd had more time, I'd have talked to him about my time in the psych ward.
"So, things are going good with Starla," Johnny blurts out. "I don't know if you heard, but we got a place together now."
Starla. Someone else Hurley barely thinks of now. He does remember the day he finally found out Johnny and Starla were secretly seeing each other. "We used to have fun, Hurley," Starla had said. "But you've changed. All this curse stuff, and the numbers, the deck collapse...we don't laugh any more, Hurley."
And Johnny had obviously been able to provide that for her.
When Starla left, I blamed the numbers. But did it even matter as much as I thought at the time?
Starla was nothing. But Libby, she helped people. She helped me with the food thing, Claire with her flashbacks of Ethan. And I can't even talk about the connection we shared, since everyone thought she only survived for a week after the crash.
Johnny's just realised what he said. He's feeling bad for mentioning her in front of me. Truth is, since Libby, I haven't cared for Starla at all.
A few days after Hurley's surprise birthday party, he sees Johnny in the street.
"So, dude, hear that was a pretty cool party your dad organised." Johnny says. "Sorry we couldn't be there."
Hurley thinks back to that day. After he saw the numbers in the old Camaro and ran out, Jack had gone after him, telling him he understood that the sight of the numbers from the hatch would upset Hurley, but if he kept on acting like that, people were going to ask questions. They'd told the story for a reason; now Hurley had to stick to it.
He hadn't known what to say when they rejoined the party, but Jack had told some dumb joke that diffused the situation. Most people forgot it had happened, but Nadia had given him a couple of strange looks.
Hurley hadn't even noticed that Johnny wasn't there.
Throughout the whole party, I was aware of this big hole where Charlie should have been. And Libby, and Jin. I even missed Sawyer at one point. Never thought I'd say that.
But Johnny? I hate to admit it, but nothing. Zip. Nada.
When Johnny and Starla become engaged, Johnny sits Hurley down and tells him first, before any of their other friends. He doesn't want Hurley hearing it from anyone else.
Johnny fidgets awkwardly and stumbles over his words as he talks about how they'd always said that when one of them got married, the other would be best man. They'd made that pact on someone's stag night, probably Hurley's brother Diego's, but he can't remember for sure.
"Thing is, dude," Johnny cannot meet Hurley's eyes, "Starla, she's not real comfortable with the idea. I've...asked someone else. I hope you understand."
If it had been me getting married, if Charlie was still here, I'd have asked him to be my best man, not you.
And I don't like admitting it, but I don't feel anything now except indifference.
The first time Hurley had been in Santa Rosa, Johnny had visited him a few times. But after a while, he'd found it hard to deal with and stopped coming.
Hurley was upset at first, but Dave had said it didn't matter. Who needed Johnny anyway? Dave was Hurley's friend now. Dave was the one who could help.
After Hurley realised Dave wasn't real, when he started getting better, Johnny came back again. There had been some residual awkwardness, but soon things had gone back to how they were before.
Now, the awkwardness has really set in, and Hurley doesn't think they can ever go back.
The second time Hurley was in Santa Rosa, Johnny never visited.
Charlie comes by to see me most days. We play chess, we talk. Now I'm used to it, it's actually cool.
Johnny's here, and he doens't visit me. Charlie manages it even though he's dead.
The Oceanic Six are to return to the island.
Hurley never sees Johnny again.
But he hopes that he will see Charlie.
Fandom: Lost
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hurley, Johnny. Mentions of Charlie, Libby and Starla, also Oceanic Six.
Spoilers: Everybody Hates Hugo, all other Hurley episodes, plus all the way up through S4.
Summary: Post rescue Hurley is reunited with Johnny, yet finds himself comparing their friendship to that he had with Charlie.
Hurley's only been home a few days when Carmen sticks her head around his door and tells him he has a visitor. Another reporter, he initially thinks. That's been happening a lot lately.
But instead, he's greeted by the sight of his old friend, Johnny.
He blinks in surprise. Johnny's about the last person he ever expected to see. If Hurley's honest, he's barely given him a thought these last few weeks. Just when that whole business with the hatch first happened, and then briefly when he was arguing with Dave, that was it.
Johnny's the first to break the silence. "It's good to see you, man."
Hurley smiles weakly. "Good to see you too." He awkwardly gestures in the direction of the kitchen, inviting Johnny in.
Then silence, not knowing what to say.
I never had any of these awkward silences with Charlie. We could talk for hours about the dumbest things, like that whole superhero conversation. Jin and Desmond probably thought we were nuts.
Johnny and I used to be able to have conversations like that too, before I won the lottery.
I don't know what changed.
Johnny glances around him at the Reyes mansion. "Bet this is a bit of a shock, after what you were used to back there."
Hurley nods. "You got that right. I used to dream about this." Actually, he thinks, those few days at the Others' barracks had got him used to sleeping in a bed again.
Johnny nods. "So, how'd you survive? I mean, I saw the TV footage, but..."
"Yeah, what you saw, that's what happened."
Hurley knows he should get used to telling the story, to making people believe Jack's version, but not today.
He's still not comfortable with the whole thing. But here he is, lying to the guy he once thought was his best friend.
Hurley still remembers the tension between them right after he won the lottery. It had only been a couple of days before Johnny had come round, apologised, said he'd over reacted. And Hurley had apologised too, said he should have trusted Johnny and told him the truth.
But in the end, it wasn't Hurley's lie that came between them. It was Johnny's.
If Charlie was here, I wouldn't have to lie. Maybe it'll get easier, once I've told the story again and again. I don't know.
I remember when I first told Charlie about winning the lottery. He didn't believe me, and was particularly pissed because he'd just told me his own biggest secret. But all that really mattered was that I trusted him enough to tell him.
I wonder whether, if we'd had more time, I'd have talked to him about my time in the psych ward.
"So, things are going good with Starla," Johnny blurts out. "I don't know if you heard, but we got a place together now."
Starla. Someone else Hurley barely thinks of now. He does remember the day he finally found out Johnny and Starla were secretly seeing each other. "We used to have fun, Hurley," Starla had said. "But you've changed. All this curse stuff, and the numbers, the deck collapse...we don't laugh any more, Hurley."
And Johnny had obviously been able to provide that for her.
When Starla left, I blamed the numbers. But did it even matter as much as I thought at the time?
Starla was nothing. But Libby, she helped people. She helped me with the food thing, Claire with her flashbacks of Ethan. And I can't even talk about the connection we shared, since everyone thought she only survived for a week after the crash.
Johnny's just realised what he said. He's feeling bad for mentioning her in front of me. Truth is, since Libby, I haven't cared for Starla at all.
A few days after Hurley's surprise birthday party, he sees Johnny in the street.
"So, dude, hear that was a pretty cool party your dad organised." Johnny says. "Sorry we couldn't be there."
Hurley thinks back to that day. After he saw the numbers in the old Camaro and ran out, Jack had gone after him, telling him he understood that the sight of the numbers from the hatch would upset Hurley, but if he kept on acting like that, people were going to ask questions. They'd told the story for a reason; now Hurley had to stick to it.
He hadn't known what to say when they rejoined the party, but Jack had told some dumb joke that diffused the situation. Most people forgot it had happened, but Nadia had given him a couple of strange looks.
Hurley hadn't even noticed that Johnny wasn't there.
Throughout the whole party, I was aware of this big hole where Charlie should have been. And Libby, and Jin. I even missed Sawyer at one point. Never thought I'd say that.
But Johnny? I hate to admit it, but nothing. Zip. Nada.
When Johnny and Starla become engaged, Johnny sits Hurley down and tells him first, before any of their other friends. He doesn't want Hurley hearing it from anyone else.
Johnny fidgets awkwardly and stumbles over his words as he talks about how they'd always said that when one of them got married, the other would be best man. They'd made that pact on someone's stag night, probably Hurley's brother Diego's, but he can't remember for sure.
"Thing is, dude," Johnny cannot meet Hurley's eyes, "Starla, she's not real comfortable with the idea. I've...asked someone else. I hope you understand."
If it had been me getting married, if Charlie was still here, I'd have asked him to be my best man, not you.
And I don't like admitting it, but I don't feel anything now except indifference.
The first time Hurley had been in Santa Rosa, Johnny had visited him a few times. But after a while, he'd found it hard to deal with and stopped coming.
Hurley was upset at first, but Dave had said it didn't matter. Who needed Johnny anyway? Dave was Hurley's friend now. Dave was the one who could help.
After Hurley realised Dave wasn't real, when he started getting better, Johnny came back again. There had been some residual awkwardness, but soon things had gone back to how they were before.
Now, the awkwardness has really set in, and Hurley doesn't think they can ever go back.
The second time Hurley was in Santa Rosa, Johnny never visited.
Charlie comes by to see me most days. We play chess, we talk. Now I'm used to it, it's actually cool.
Johnny's here, and he doens't visit me. Charlie manages it even though he's dead.
The Oceanic Six are to return to the island.
Hurley never sees Johnny again.
But he hopes that he will see Charlie.