Deploy - Lampnold Fanfic

Chapter 7: A Broken Record

Shrignold's perspective: It was Friday night. All the buzz in the apartment for the past few days had been about the party. I had picked out a yellow suit with pink hearts on all the pockets. Sure, it was a bit weird but it was the only suit I owned and I hadn't worn it in a while, so I figured now was the best time. 

While I was excited about the party, I wasn't too excited about having to meet my special one soon. My time was running short. I was talking to Tony about it earlier that evening.

"So? Sounds to me that it's just a regular old date," Tony said.

"Tony.. it may come as a surprise to you, but I've never been out on a date before," I said hesitantly. 

"Oh, no, I'm not surprised at all," Tony chuckled. 

"Seriously, Tony!"

"Fine, fine. All you have to do is put on something nice, cook something for the girl and then it's over!" He explained.

"And how am I supposed to cook for her? I don't know anything about cooking!" I cried. 

"Just get Steve to do it for you," Tony said, looking over at Steve as he walked into the kitchen. He stuck his head out the doorway. 

"I'm not cooking fuck-all for you."

"Oh well. Shrig, you're screwed," Tony said as he stood up to leave the table we were sitting at. 

"No! Tony, you don't understand! Malcolm is going to kill me if things don't go well with my special one! Not that I want things to go well with my special one... in fact, I didn't even want a special one at all! But things are changing so fast, just as I'm getting used to them! The moment I fall in love with Lars? The moment Malcolm decides to assign me my special-"

I shut my mouth. Shit, I forgot Steve was still here. 

"I- I mean-"

"You like Lars??" Steve asked. I looked over at him. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching with wide eyes.

"Yes, for Malcolm's sake, I love Lars! I love him... but I feel like every time I try to get close to him, everything goes downhill. It's just... my fate," I said quietly, tears beginning to form in my eyes. 

Tony and Steve stared at me. They looked concerned. Then Tony stepped towards me. 

"Shrig.. I think we all know that the problem here is not your fate. And I know this might sound impossible to you but... it's time for you to let Malcolm go," he sighed. 

"Tony, do you know how much I want to do that?? Do you know how much I want to go up to him and slap him in his stupid fucking face?!" I asked, my voice cracking as my vocal chords tensed up. Eyes straining as I glared up at him, not blinking one bit. 

There was a deep silence before I spoke again. 

"Malcolm was the only father figure I had in my life. I'm aware that I sound like a broken record but as long as Malcolm is alive, I will always be bound to his rules and I will always be stuck in a never-ending cycle of hate and guilt and misery. This is my life now. I can't control it."

Without saying a word, Tony wrapped his arms around me. 

"I understand," Tony whispered. I wiped my eyes. 

"Thank you," I whispered back. Suddenly, I felt another pair of arms wrap around my back. I looked behind me to see Steve was hugging me as well.

"This is corny as shit but I'll cook for you and your date if you really want me to," he said, his voice muffled as his face was stuffed in my hair. I smiled. 

"Thanks, Steve," I giggled quietly. "But if you dare tell Lars about this, I'll kill you."

"I won't, don't worry about it," he said. 

Larry's perspective: The next morning, I planned on leaving early and taking Colin, Steve and Veg with me. I wanted to pick up some drinks for our gang to drink since at the party they were probably gonna have those fancy ass low alcohol drinks that nobody actually likes. As for me, I wasn't really sure if I was going to drink tonight or not. If I'm being honest, I actually haven't been drinking at all lately, which was weird because I was usually opening a new beer every 10 seconds. I was mostly just buying the drinks for the rest of the group, not myself. But tonight was a special occasion and if there was any reason to break my longest record of soberness, it would be a special occasion. But still, I wasn't so sure. 

It was 6 in the morning when my carpool left. Paige, Tony and Shrignold were still asleep. As soon as I walked out of my room in my dress, they all looked speechless. Veg said I looked like a princess which made my heart just fucking melt. 

The whole drive there, Steve kept giving me funny looks. I was like 99 percent sure it was because of my dress, but something inside me told me it was about something different. When we got there, we had to wait a while for the rest of the group to show up. Colin was freaking out a whole lot for some reason. I wasn't going to admit it but I was secretly freaking out as well. I was scared of what Shrignold was gonna think of me. If I would've worn this dress to one of the parties we held back when we were still working for Roy, he would've gone batshit crazy. I know he's come a long way since those days but y'know. 

We had tried calling Paige, Tony and Shrignold multiple times but we got no answers. I just assumed they were stuck in traffic or something, so I wasn't too worried. 

Suddenly, the doors opened and in they came.