You're Always You

Chapter Fifty-Three

David Minett

Great, now David felt guilty for not knowing what the hell was happening to this universe once he left it. It had been easy not to care before, but now that Lydia was having her own existential crisis over it?

God...he should've just kept his big mouth shut.

Honestly, he hoped this universe would disappear. Not because he didn't care, but because he did. Because he didn't want to leave it and just leave everything...hanging. Leave Lydia hanging.

He would rather this Lydia cease to exist than continue living miserably. He didn't tell her that, because nobody wants to hear that death is the better option, but...it was what he thought.

But he did mean what he had said. Nothing about this would've changed without the promise of going home again. If Divine Jizzbubble had decided "fuck you" and left Dave here forever...fine. David still would've gotten Brett out of jail, and put Monica back in school, and won Lydia away from Dick. They were still his family. He loved them and cared about them, and he would get them out of their shitty situations for the same reasons he'd done it in the first place. Because they deserved that.

He couldn't just sit back and let them lead shitty lives because "they're not mine".

David wasn't that kind of person, and he hated that he made Lydia think he was. Even if she didn't quite love him yet, he did love her, because she was still Lydia.

Obviously...there would be days like the one had had last week. That he felt like everything was terrible and he wanted to go home. But if this place was his fate, he would still live it to the best of his ability. He would fall apart every so often, mourn what he'd lost, that was just natural, but...eventually, it'd get better.

It would take a very, very long time, but....

Sigh.

Despite that it was only the morning, David decided to take the night off from work for later. That was what he usually did, whenever he and Lydia had a disagreement. He made it a point to spend as much time as necessary getting things back on track, which meant he was staying home to do so.

Lydia argued that he didn't need to do that, but David argued he was quitting soon anyway, what was a day off now?

She couldn't refute that.

He also didn't let her make breakfast, because that was his thing, and he made sure to make her favorite because that would make her feel better. He made sure everything was her favorite, right down to the activities for the day, and thankfully she didn't stay upset with him for too long. Still somber, still frightened in the back of her mind, but....

Not upset with David.

Which was good.

Though, it did occur to him that...the last point of his deal with the devil, more or less, was that he had to go out and...find the fucker afterwards. David wasn't positive what constituted being finished, to be honest.

Because Lydia was not marrying him anytime soon. Brett would never be a cop, and Monica was ass-deep in debt. There was only so much Dave could do. Which was why he was spending today making absolutely sure that Lydia was comfortable, and more importantly happy, with him, before starting to look for clues...at some point tomorrow.

God, he didn't even know where to begin.

A clue would be nice, y'know.

But, that could be worried about...tomorrow.

"See, now I can't tell if that candle is on purpose," Lydia spoke up later that evening, before dinner, giving David a teasing look.

"Why," he responded, sitting beside her on the couch, holding out a plate of chicken towards her, her favorite, as everything had been today. "Is it working~?"

She scoffed and shoved him lightly, before picking up her fork. "No," she retorted, though a blush flooded her cheeks and she averted her gaze.

....

David snickered softly. "Liar~," he commented.

"I'm eating," she responded pointedly. "I'm not into that."

It made him burst out laughing, which startled her, so he quickly stifled it. When she stared at him in confusion, since it wasn't...really meant to be that funny, he said, "It's...nothing. Eat your dinner."

"....Okay," she replied, giving an awkward snort.

She might not be the Lydia from his reality, but she was still Lydia alright.

When they finished eating, David insisted upon doing the dishes, which exasperated Lydia. "I'm not even mad anymore, David, I can do the dishes."

"No," he said stubbornly from the kitchen.

"Yes," she retorted, coming forward to snatch a dish from him.

"No," he insisted, flicking water at her with his fingers, which made her flinch. "Bad kitty."

"Weirdo," she muttered, hip-checking him out of the way, which admittedly caught him off guard. "At least share."

He sighed and rolled his eyes, though with a smile on his face. "Alright fine." They both did the dishes then, though with plenty of shoving and water-flicking, before returning to the living room. However, given Lydia had decided to put a bag of popcorn into the microwave, David knew she was hankering for a movie, and didn't hesitate to ready one for when the popcorn was ready.

It was easy to fall into old habits now, now that Lydia wasn't a stranger anymore, and they were at the point of kissing and sleeping in the same bed, and David didn't even think about putting his arm around her shoulders. Nor did she seem that fussed with leaning into it, either.

It...was a little homesickening, but that was okay.

"So," Lydia spoke up after a little while, stretching herself out on the couch, her legs over David's lap. "What else is different...where you're from?"

....

He blew out a breath, rubbing his thumb over her leg softly. "Dunno. A lot of it's pretty the same. It's just...what's different is...vastly different." He sat back slightly with a hum. "....You don't hate your parents anymore."

At that, she began to laugh. "Alright, now I know you're joking."

"No," Dave insisted, reaching for her and pulling her forward somewhat. "I'm serious. You and your parents didn't get along in high school, but I made you reconcile. Things got better when you moved in with me, because they were still in your life, but not...sticking their noses in it. You guys are just fine."

Lydia lowered her gaze somewhat, seemingly taking that in. "....Wow. You just...fixed everything, didn't you."

He smiled sympathetically, and hugged her against him. "That's what I do, sweetheart. I live to better people."

She hummed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Well. You're good at it."

He knew that. But, instead of saying as much, he merely decided to chuckle. "Thanks, baby," he said, nuzzling her temple softly.

She gave a soft snort at that, likely because of all his terms of endearment that seemed rather quick to fall into place. She picked her head up and gazed at him, biting her lip somewhat. David didn't know what she was looking at him for, but he didn't question it, merely touching her chin affectionately and gazing back at her.

And then she wore her kiss me eyes, and David didn't even need to be the one to initiate it.

Bless you, cinnamon apple candle.