wickerpark | I keep calling...[Greg + Merry]

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I keep calling...[Greg + Merry]

Greg smiled at the latest starlet to grace the movie screens as they finished their interview. It was a smile meant to hide the wince, because that one was not going to last long. He could tell that one already, and not just because it was his job to make them feel small. Because, he supposed, it wasn't really his job. It just was a thing he did.

Either way, it was a thing.

"Oh, hey Abby." Greg said as he turned and saw Gael Shaw walking past him, looking fairly good- all things considered. There was, of course no sign of Carlos. "Hey, come on. Don't be like that. We've got to kiss and make nice, or they are all just going to think we're having the best hate sex ever." He said with a grin; one that grew as Gael rolled his eyes and moved closer.

"Greg." He said, forcing a smile as he glanced at a photographer a few feet away. "We don't have to do this. Every award season, you come out here, make an ass of yourself, and wonder why you can't get laid in Hollywood. Maybe if you didn't insult everyone's ass, you'd get a decent fuck out of things."

Greg laughed at that, reaching out to pat the shorter man's cheek affectionately. "Oh yeah, that's absolutely why you didn't sleep with me- Oh, wait....but you did." It was a cheeky grin. "Woah, woah...I would watch the ugly looks, man. This place loves a good hatemance more than a romance. So, unless you want to have a heart to heart tonight with Carlos- I say we just do this interview. I'll insult your hair, you'll call be a fuckcake, and we'll met up tonight for drinks. Maybe a little," he made a popping and clicking noise with his mouth before he grinned. Gael only rolled his eyes, before motioning it on. He was easy, Greg thought. Always had been.

After Gael's interview, everything else went fairly quickly. And once the carpets where clear, Greg could turn his attentions to the lone lady he saw making her way to the doors. "Well, Hello Chicka." He said as he came up beside Merry. "You're looking ravishing tonight. Enough so that I'd be willing to cancel my plans just to worship you and that dress."

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Their first few years out here, Merry hadn't dated much. She was always working, you had to if you wanted to get your foot in the door, and if she were honest with herself, she'd never been particularly good at putting herself out there and making the first move. Throughout college, it had seemed like a lot of work when she could just hang on the couch with Greg and popcorn.

Until a few months ago, she'd been wondering if she was going to end up making good on their stupid pact to get married or whatever when they turned 45.

But she'd met Jocelyn about six months ago when she'd volunteered to run Gael to one of his last physical therapy appointments. Joss wasn't even remotely into the whole Hollywood thing, and she'd been at the hospital all day so she was watching at home with a promise to keep an eye out for Meredith on tv.

"Too bad for you I've got plans already," she said with dry humor as she reached up and straightened his tie out of habit. "I saw you and Gael and decided to take cover until the murder-potential went down a little."

"Oh, right. Joss. Doing well I assume." Greg said, making a face before he rolled his eyes. "There was no murder potential, okay. He? Is just in need of a good fuck, I think. I mean, Carlos isn't here, which probably means they aren't on good terms. I was just giving him a chance to get his rocks off a little. That's all."

Which, might have been true if it wasn't for the fact that Greg was consistently alone and finding it harder and harder to get someone to share his bed for the night. Shaw had probably been the most consistent thing going for him, and Shaw hated him. But getting someone really drunk could definitely destroy their excuses to hold out.

It almost might have just been a male thing.

"You sure you don't want to hang tonight? I mean, I haven't seen you in a while. Could be fun."

"Mm-hmm." Joss didn't really like Greg much, honestly, though she put a pretty good face on it. The problem - not that Merry had ever thought of it as a problem - was Greg could be a bastard without really putting any effort into it. "Actually, Carlos told me he was headed to Albuquerque because his dad's sick, so I think he and Gael are still continuing their insane run just fine."

Though it had seemed more insane when Meredith's own relationship history was composed on hookups and the shortest relationships in the Chicago gay community.

"Not tonight," she said, though she smiled a little. "I promised I'd be home after. I've barely seen Joss all week, with all of this crap. But we have to do something soon. I haven't heard any interview stories in almost a month, and that's got to be a record."

"How do you know so much about what is going on in that household?" Greg asked, suddenly feeling that maybe Merry was spending more time with Gael and his boyfriend than with her best friend. Which...maybe it should have been a surprise. Couples liked to do things with other couples. "Well, they aren't married yet, so I wouldn't cast all their chips in." Or something like that.

Besides, who dated for ten something years? That was just flat out crazy.

And of course, the 'oh I can't' spiel was the same one he'd already heard the last eight times he'd asked Merry about just...hanging. "Two." He said, with a thin smile. "You'll have to pin me in, soon. Because being award season, you know. Lots of interviews, red carpet nonsense. I think we're even starting a youtube blog at the station so people can see the antics in the booth. Busy, busy."

Merry really didn't think either Gael or Carlos were the marrying type, or they would have done it a long time ago. Before Ty and his family, really; it was weird to think of Ty as the one of them who'd ended up with two kids and a dog and a cat. All the weird normal trappings.

She just shrugged, though. No need to point out to Greg that, yes, she and Joss did things like barbecue at Gael's house or go out to brunch with the two of them. It wasn't the same kind of fun as Greg was, but it didn't make Joss as uncomfortable so...it happened more often.

"It has not been two months. You've got to be exaggerating." But maybe not too much. She smiled, though, brushing a strand of hair back. "See, you're going to be too busy to see me soon."

There had been a war, and then 'death' standing between Gael and Carlos for a while. They'd only just now started to actually function as a 'couple'. Meaning they spent more than a month or two together. That had been the staple of most of their relationship. But, it wasn't here nor there. Nor was Ty's apparent devotion to married life and family.

That was a bit of a shocker, honestly.

"Sure I am." Greg said, with that same tight lipped smile. The books always said that if you were friends with someone for more than five years, or ten (something like that) that you were friends for life. Greg was starting to wonder if that was all just come fancy bullshit in a self-help book meant to make you feel better about being the odd duck out on the 'happy future' or whatever.

Maybe he just needed a fucking drink.

"Oh, don't know. I'd probably be able to make some time for you. If you wanted." Which was the question he was starting to ask himself- did she even want to still call him a friend.

She did - really, she did want to make time for him, and it was startling, shocking even to think that she hadn't been. Merry could tell by Greg's tight expression that it'd at least been over a month, if not quite two. It was the first time a relationship had changed them that way, she reflected. A couple of her girlfriends had complained that any relationship with Meredith was a relationship with Greg, too.

She hadn't seen much of a problem with that when she was twenty-three, frankly. Maybe it was more of one now that they were older than that.

"How about tomorrow?" She asked impulsively. She and Joss had plans, but it wasn't like they were unbreakable or anything. "We can go drink brunch or something." Which was another thing with Greg, she thought; the older they got, the more she felt she couldn't keep up with him on the drinking. And didn't really want to.

That was a quick turn around. It was almost like he'd been trying to guilt trip her, which hadn't been in his plans. But he wasn't sure what to do with it now that she was suddenly saying they should hang out. Even if it was just brunch. Sort of.

"Drink brunch?" Greg asked, raising a brow slightly. "Uh, yeah. Sure. I mean, um. I've got this interview at nine, but after that I would be free for most of the afternoon." They just had other random antics they'd planned.

"But, I mean...if you want, we can get brunch." He said, shrugging a little. "And I should let you get into the party. With, um....everyone."

It had certainly felt like guilt, Merry thought as she waved goodbye and headed inside to be an extra warm body on stage, should her last prestige picture actually take Best Picture tonight. Her big night would be in two weeks, and while they got some press, there weren't enough stars for Greg to show up to it.

Not since she started bringing her own dates, at least.

She pushed those thoughts aside until the next afternoon, when she'd traded her evening gown for ripped jeans and a loose-knit sweater and had parked herself at a table at the restaurant she'd texted Greg before she'd gone to bed the night before. Different than the grimy hole in the wall bar they'd always gone to a few years before. Everything gleamed to a high gloss and she'd nodded to a few people she'd worked with before she slipped her sunglasses back on and sunk back into the booth to wait.

He'd had a big breakfast at one of those twenty-four hour diners- one hangover hamburger, a lot of grease and 4 aspirin. That had been before five am, and then he'd been in the broadcast booth at six am to regale the morning commuters on the fun of the Golden Globes. One interview later with Shannon Mallory, about her newest film, and he was done with his morning commute shift at the radio station.

He still yawned, though, as he walked into the restaurant. It wasn't really his speed, he thought. Too clean, to orderly. But he'd spotted Merry, and smiled at her before he moved to the booth and sat.

"Hey, sunshine." He said, smiling a as he picked up a menu. "What's with the sunglasses. Don't tell me you're embarrassed to be seen here. You picked it."

"Maybe I'm nursing a hangover," she said dryly as she pulled them off and dropped them on the table. Her eyes were clear, though, since she'd only had a couple of glasses of wine on her own couch. Greg would probably tell her she was disgusting. "Nah, I forgot that if you pick a place where you meet people from work...you're going to run into people from work. They're swarming, you'd think they'd want to sleep in today, I swear."

She picked up her mimosa as she wound down and took a long drink before she picked up the menu. "So, how was Shannon?" She asked with a smirk. "I heard some on the way. It was like hair-fluffing had a sound.

"A wine induced hangover?" He asked in a skeptical tone, before she really spit it out. And then it made some sense. Glancing around, and smirked and laughed a little. "Hey, this is Hollywood, Sunshine. It's gonna happen. Sort of like how I can't go to into a bar and not run into someone I slept with. Small world, this place."

But it was neither here nor there, at the moment. "And come on, Shannon was just fine. Great, even. She's got the brains of....a fifth grader, and the tits of a porn star. What's not to love?"

Merry snorted. "I'll give you the tits, at least, but she's as dumb as a brick, and no one's been as spoiled since Veruca Salt. You wouldn't believe what she pulled on her last movie if I told you." And now she was probably going to have to. The funny thing was, before Joss, she would have already. They would have been gossiping over greasy hangover food every weekend, like they had since they'd moved in together at eighteen.

"How's that going?" She asked, though, flicking her hair back as the waiter started to slowly circle back. Greg was facing away from him, and Meredith Addison wasn't the kind of hollywood player you rushed back to. She mostly liked it that way.

"And you haven't already told me? I could have used that today." Greg said in an almost hurt tone. He wasn't going to get her to change her mind, he was sure of that, but....He missed the old days. He missed greasy diners at 4am, and living just down the hall from her.

He missed her.

"How's what going?" He asked, his brow knotting a little as he put the menu down. He guessed he'd stick to a salad. He wasn't hungry enough for anything else, at least not yet. Turning he waved at a waitress in hopes of getting someone's attention.

"I'll tell you now," he said as he got their waitress stampeding over. "The only time I ever wish I was in front of the camera is when I'm trying to order in restaurants," she muttered until the waitress was in earshot. "Cinnamon roll french toast, bacon on the side, extra syrup."

She missed Greg too, and not just because he could get her food faster. They'd been best friends for god knows how long, she thought. Elementary school, she was pretty sure, and for most of that time inseparable. They'd probably be like Carlos and Gael too, if she didn't like women better than men. But she did, so she had Joss, and Greg had...whoever he had this week.

"I haven't been regaled with a hot one-night stand in weeks," she said after the waitress left with their orders. "The last one I heard about was...ooh. Shannon. I would have thought that would have given you plenty today."

"Oh yeah? Not all it's cracked up to be, you know. The whole....everyone you screw has their face plastered on a rag mag thing can be a little disgusting." If only because some of those 'shags' were not worth repeating and somewhat done out of pity. Or at least that had been the case back in the day. "Can I get a dirty martini and a house salad?" He asked before the waitress took off.

For now, he'd settle for the water sitting on the table. "You were never that interested in my one-night-stands before," he remarked as he took a sip of water. "And really, there haven't been any worth mentioning of late. Shannon aside. And really, would you turn her down? Lets be honest. Sex is not about the IQ."

"You could find someone hot that isn't a star yet," she pointed out. "It's not like there are ugly people in L.A., babe. Even the waiters are hot." Especially the waiters, since they were all aiming for the stratosphere.

She took another sip of her mimosa and shrugged. "You told me about them anyway," she said. "I miss talking to you. I didn't realize it'd been so long."

"I've done the round, babe. It isn't all stars in my life. I'm not famous enough to have that sort of life." He wasn't even remotely famous enough for that. He got some shine, though, from knowing Gael, and then a few others he'd met over the years. But that wasn't worth pointing out.

"Yeah, I miss you too." He said, shrugging as he relaxed into the booth. His martini was sitting in front of him before he said anything else. "How's things with Joss? Aside from....boring."

He was more recognizable than he thought, Merry reflected. He'd be more so if not for...for the drinking, which either was getting worse or just seemed that way. Maybe that's the real reason she hadn't seen much of him lately, she thought. He needed an intervention and she wasn't sure she was capable of it. Or that it wouldn't just break them apart for good.

She didn't think she was up for that.

"Joss and I are fine," she said. "Good. It's weird, you know, because there's no drama and I'm still not bored. But maybe that's because she's taking pole-dancing," she said blandly, mostly to make him laugh at her. "That's never boring to come home to, let me tell you."

He wasn't getting worse, per se. He was getting a little less controlled, and a little more bold. It was a delicate balancing act, and one his mother had worked her entire life. Right up to the day she'd been diagnosed with liver failure.

He hadn't told Merry yet. He hadn't told anyone, actually. Except Sailor Jerry.

"Pole dancing." He said, laughing softly. "Well, that's good. Hate for life to be boring. That's just...uncalled for." So very uncalled for. But then, there wasn't much as else to do with that. "You know, I'm....happy that you're happy, Merry. I just....miss getting to be a part of your life. It sucks, not knowing what is going on."

She was going to hurt him if she found out from someone else. Which, considering her dad and his sort-of dad were the best of friends was entirely possible. It was just lucky for Greg that she called home about as often as the two of them had been getting together lately. Merry had always been a distant child, and moving to L.A. had just made that worse.

"I do want you to be part of it, Greg," she said, leaning her elbows on the table. "But it's...just not going to be the same as it used to be, you know? 4am bars and 5am diners are in the past now. I can't do that and try to be with someone." She wanted things to work with Joss. It was important, more so than it had been with any other girl. The rest of them...she'd been able to sacrifice those relationships for the one with Greg without much trouble. "But I shouldn't have just...dropped you like I did. I didn't mean to."

They hadn't spoken in a while when Cadogan had called to tell him, over facetime. He'd been in the studio, just after a show a few weeks ago. Lucky for him, no one else in the group know ASL. Why would they? They were in the business of talking. When he'd tried to call Merry, it had gone to voicemail...so he hung up. He hadn't known what else to do.

"I'm not asking you to do that, Merry." He said, his voice hushed as he leaned in to the table. "I'm...I just want to feel like you'll answer my call if I call. Or just call me back at least. Because....I don't feel that right now." What else was he supposed to say, anyway? 'Oh, it's cool, I don't care.' And all that fun stupid shit? "You had a lot of stuff on your plate, I get it."

If she'd felt guilted last night, Merry thought, it was nothing compared to what it felt like now. Greg's word left her mimosa burning like a tight, hot ball in her stomach, and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to eat the french toast coming out of the kitchen now.

"You know I'd call back," she said in a low tone. There'd been one call, she remembered. She'd missed it, and then...gotten busy. Forgotten to call him back until a few days later, and by then he'd sardonically said he couldn't remember why he wanted to talk to her. It had been one of their more awkward conversations.

"You're important to me," she said, running a hand through her hair. "You're still my best friend; that's not changing." Even if it did cause arguments between her and her girlfriend. Joss wasn't perfect, and one of the ways was in how she kept trying to mold Merry - a little - into someone who wouldn't be friends with someone like Greg Matthews.

She said that, but he wasn't sure he knew it. For all that Merry thought Joss was keeping her feeling masked perfectly, Greg had gotten the impression. If only from the fewer and fewer interactions between him and Merry, and the possibly unintended side comments he'd caught from time to time.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." He said, a smile creeping across his face as the food was set down in front of them. "Look, I'm....I'm going home for a bit. Check in on mum and Cadogan. I hate talking to Cadogan over the phone, anyway." He didn't have to sign, but he usually did. For one, it kept him in practice, and two...it was nice knowing very few people could listen in.

"So, um. We should probably do this again when I get, back, right?"

Her brow furrowed a bit. "Is anything wrong?" She asked a bit hesitantly. They might not have been as joined at the hip as they used to be, but she and Greg only usually went home at holidays. It'd been that way for years.

Plus, awards season was just starting up. The Golden Globes had been last night, they still had the SAGs and the others that came along before the Oscars in March.

"Yeah. Yeah, just uh. Need to do something for my mum, and I can't really do it here." They wanted to know if he could be a donor, but he also had to prove he could be sober long enough to be a donor. It was all a complicated process, and Cadogan didn't want him to worry about it. It was all going to be fine.

"I'll miss a week, at most, be back plenty of time for the Oscars which is the real money maker." He said, smirking. "So I think we'll be good, yeah?"

Merry had a thoughtful look on her face that probably told Greg she wasn't completely buying it, but she didn't push. That was probably why their friendship had lasted as long as it had; she never pushed him.

"Well, okay," she said. "We can go somewhere a little less Hollywood when you get back." She hesitated. "You'll tell me if Aunt Leona's not okay, right?"

"What?" He asked, scooping the dressing out over his salad. Licking his lips, he didn't look at her for a long moment. "Yeah, of course I would let you know. But, there isn't anything to worry about right now." Right now. If they could find a donor, then nothing would ever need to be worried about.

At least that is what he needed to tell her right now. Anything else made it all too real, didn't it? And it made it more terrifying.

Yeah, Merry thought, she definitely didn't believe him now. But pushing wasn't going to do any good, so she just drew a breath and dumped syrup all over her toast and bacon.

"Alright," she said before she took a bite. "So for a going away present, I better tell you all about Shannon and the terrible twos."

It was easier, gossiping like this instead of thinking about the...undercurrents. And it reminded her that she wasn't the nice, quiet person Joss liked to think she was. Not completely, at least.

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I keep calling...[Greg + Merry]

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