Won't You Love Me?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Names: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

Year: 1946

Ages: 29 and 19

Sweat clings to Dean's curls and covers his sun-kissed skin in a glistening sheen, and Jerry supposes he looks the same to the audience beneath the glaring spotlight illuminating them. The two stand so close to each other that to say "nose to nose" would have by no means been an exaggeration, and Jerry feels Dean's quick, warm breaths against the tip of his nose as he struggles to regain his own breath.

Dean's eyes are dark with something Jerry intimately recognizes as fury, and although usually he would have been quaking beneath that glare, Jerry can't help the smirk that tugs at the corner of his lips. He can't help the crazy ideas that pop into his mind, so he just has to follow this one and hope he doesn't end up on the ground with a bloody nose.

"I have finally come to the point in our relationship where I am going to have to tell you, if you do that again, it's over," Dean finally manages, his voice trembling with what only Jerry notices is real anger. The crowd eats it up, thinking this is all part of the act. "Do you understand that? O—V—U—R!"

Without letting himself think about it for one more second, for he knows otherwise he won't be able to bring himself to do it, Jerry leans forward and gives Dean a big kiss right on the mouth before saying, "I understand perfectly."

Despite the slight widening of his eyes, Dean just remains there, motionless. Apparently that was the right reaction, because the room erupts into pandemonium, and out of the corner of Jerry's eye he can see a few people in the front row actually falling out of their seats laughing.

They were going to be just fine.

###

Names: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

Year: 1946

Ages: 29 and 19

"Why don't you knock off that crap and shut the hell up?" The group that are laughing at Jerry's jokes startle at the shout from the bar, and as soon as they catch sight of the perpetrator, they fall silent, paling. Jerry, unfortunately, does not note their expressions as due to the man in particular, and saunters over to the fella with his chest caved in and hips jutting out exaggeratedly. He gets these kind of drunks all the time, so he doesn't give joking around with him a second thought.

"That's what happens when cousins get married." The words escape in his squeaky Idiot voice, and he instantly regrets it when he glimpses the grimace on Dean's face. His stomach twists when the guy talking to Dean, Joe Lopez, shakes his head at Jerry and raises his fingers to his temple like a gun.

The supposed drunk moves to his feet, and Jerry swallows nervously. He certainly doesn't look drunk, and he certainly doesn't look like someone he'd want to get in a fight with, seeing as he seems to be a hulk of a man. With an expression that seriously makes Jerry wonder if he's about to be killed, the man sticks his finger in Jerry's face and growls, "That's not funny, you stupid sonofabitch. You open your mouth again, you won't have no teeth."

Jerry doesn't doubt it, and neither does Dean, who's muttering just about every curse known to man under his breath as he crosses the room in long strides. Nimbly stepping in between the hulking mountain and Jerry by pushing Jerry behind him, Dean turns on his charms to the max and says, "My partner's a little young, he didn't mean any harm." Jerry clutches at Dean's wrist almost instinctively as they watch to see the man's reaction, and in that moment in which all seems lost, his fingers dig into Dean's wrist so hard it would have been painful for Dean in any situation other than this.

"Okay. Only you keep the little bastard away from me. You tell him he's lucky I got a sense of humor." The man finally says, throwing one last disdainful glare at Jerry before walking away. Jerry and Dean both sigh in relief, but the moment doesn't last very long as Dean whirls around to face Jerry with eyes flashing.

"For your information, schmuck, that was Albert Anastasia." Dean hisses, hating to admit to himself that he's only half angry, and that the rest of the adrenaline coursing through him is due to the fact that he's nearly scared out of his wits.

"Albert . . . Albert Anastasia?" The color drains from Jerry's cheeks as he puts two and two together. The guy that he very nearly drew to the edge was Albert Anastasia. A. K. A . The Lord High Executioner.