Over the Creek (A Rhett and Link Fanfiction)

Dinner

After we had eaten breakfast that morning, I invited Rhett and Link to my house for dinner. Luckily, Rhett left early to do his basketball drills early so he'd be able to make it. Link looked more than happy, and his Mom seemed rather glad, too. I knew that it earned him a lot of teasing.

I was sitting in the living room, playing Heroes by David Bowie on Adrienne's record player. I could hear the skidding of rocks as Adrienne pulled into the driveway. It was a few minutes before she walked inside, and she looked pale as ever. I immediately stood up to help her.

"Hey! What happened? Are you okay?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She cleared her throat. "I'm fine for now. I had some blood work done. I should get results back in a week or two."

I gave her a hug. "I hope you feel better."

Adrienne smiled a sad smile. I played with my fingers, looking down at them. "Oh, and uh. I was wondering if I could have my friends over for dinner? I know it's probably not practical but-"

"Of course! I'd love to meet them, Claire."

I was shocked. My parents rarely let me have anybody over, let alone two boys on a weekday. I grinned ear to ear. "Thanks, Ades. You should probably get some rest. If you need anything, just tell me."

I glanced at the hanging clock. I told them to come around 5:00, and it was 4:11 now. They didn't really tell me what they wanted, so I decided to go simple and make some spaghetti.

As the water boiled, I drug a table cloth out of one of Adrienne's craft drawers. The North Carolina wind was calm, letting the table cloth sit perfectly without blowing away. It was hot, so I opened the awning for some shade.

The noodles cooked, and I stuck some garlic bread in the oven. I put some lemonade in a pitcher, covered it, and placed it neatly on the patio. I straightened the chairs, fluffed the cushions and tested the lemonade.

I tucked the bread into a little basket, and covered it with a cloth. I set the food out on the table, then picked up the telephone and punched in Link's number.

It rang a few times. And a few times more. It rang until it didn't anymore. I tried calling Rhett's. It, too, went to voicemail. I was about to get on my bike until there was a knock at my door. Well, several knocks, actually. And several more obnoxious knocks.

Knowing I'd find two guilty faces beyond my front door, I decided to ignore the knocks. Instead, I climbed out onto my veranda and smiled to myself. I fit a few pebbles in my hand and tossed them over the roof to the front of the house. It took a moment, but I soon heard Link's hushed voice saying, "Look, Rhett."

The boys found their way to my veranda and smiled sweetly as they neared it. "We knocked." Rhett huffed, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes. "I noticed."

They climbed over the railing and found their way to the chairs. I looked to Rhett, who was seeing stars among all of the food. Link was also observing his hungry friend. We giggled as Rhett made himself a plate, and we followed shortly afterwards.

Once everyone had a plate fixed, Link cleared his throat. "So, Claire, what're your plans for freshman year?"

I though for a moment. "Well, I thought I'd hang with you guys."

Rhett smiled, shaking his head a little bit. "I'm talking big picture stuff." The shorter friend chirped, munching on some garlic bread.

"I dunno. I'm gonna try out for basketball, I think."

Link looked to Rhett, who in turn, looked to me. "I knew it."

"I'm just glad I finally have some good friends like you guys. It's nice to have y'all." I was blushing slightly, but I didn't make much of it.

They smiled and nodded. "It's just been us for so long." Link spoke softly; knowingly.

We ate in mostly silence, although you couldn't ignore the crunching of Rhett's garlic bread and Link slurping the noodles. But, despite the slightly annoying sounds, I couldn't complain. They were with me, and that made me more than happy.

After dinner, I cleaned up and brought them into the living room. Adrienne managed to get into the room, though she walked feebly. Rhett and Link turned their heads to see her, and she smiled. "Oh, you must be Rhett and Link. I'm Adrienne, Claire's aunt."

Rhett was first to shake her hand and smile with his ample cheek bones doing their thing. Link was a bit more shy, but he followed his taller friend in shaking her hand. "I won't bother you kids. I was just going to fix some tea. Do you like Earl Grey?"

"I'm not much of a tea drinker." Rhett smiled.

"Me, either." Link nodded.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "There's some spaghetti left in the fridge for you. Rhett ate all the garlic bread, though." We all giggled, and Rhett turned a little pink.

Adrienne scooped out some spaghetti, and I nearly had to help her. She would occasionally cringe discreetly in pain. She closed her eyes, turning away from us while holding in a scared breath.

I led the boys down the hall into my bedroom. The window closed easily as I gave it a slight push. While having my back turned to put on a record, the boys found something and began making loud crashing noises.

"What are y-"

They had found my stash of paintings. My paintings.

Link studied them intently. "Woah. I didn't know you collect art."

I chuckled. "I don't."

Rhett rolled his eyes as Link picked up another painting. "Than what do you call this?"

"My artwork."

They both met my gaze, their mouths open slightly. "You did this?"

Nodding, I took the heavy canvas away. "It's sort of a release for when things get hard. Do you want to see my newest piece?"

After getting a signal to proceed, I walked over to my easel and pulled away the cloth that was covering the canvas. There was a vibrant blue stream running across the page, rushing by luscious shades of green foliage. Even the dull gray pastels of rocks weren't boring.

"Claire, this is incredible." Rhett complimented, chewing on his lip.

Link nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Is this Buies Creek?"

"It's supposed to be. I started painting our bikes on the hill, you can see-"

I was interrupted by the sound of metal colliding on the bare kitchen tile. And then the slamming of a weak hand on the table. There was a ominous silence, looming in the thick atmosphere. Dropping the cloth, I felt like running wouldn't get me to the kitchen fast enough.