Canned Spaghetti

Author: Oro

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I'm flattered you'd even think. But nope.

Spoilers: And the Crowd Goes Wild

Notes: Post-ep to And the Crowd Goes Wild. I was told to write Dana/Casey. This is… well, it's not the case at all.

And after the show he goes to his Conan and his canned spaghetti; so he's sitting with his canned spaghetti in front of his Conan, self-debating on whether or not he should have tea once he's done with this food which tonight seems to have taken on the taste of prison food (not that he'd know), when his doorbell rings. And even though it's two o'clock in the morning, he still places his spaghetti on the coffee table and lowers down the sound before he gets up to see who's at the door. If only because that's how he was raised, not that it matters, for his childhood days are long gone now. He opens the door and in front of him is a sheepish Dana, who doesn't at all seem as if she's completely sure she knows what she's doing. "Hi," he says, letting her in anyway.

"Hi," she walks in and sits on his couch, as if it's not the first time she's been there, and it's not two AM, and she's completely used to doing that, almost; her frame is stiff and her presence awkward as her skin touches the blanket which only minutes ago was used to cover Jeremy.

Who just stands there. "Can I offer you a drink?" he finally asks.

"Do you have Fresca?" Dana asks, her shoulders tense.

"I have nothing. Water, if I'm lucky." His expression softens at her obvious nervousness.

"Yeah, alright," Dana's hair shines, a combination of blue on blonde as the color of her hair intermixes with the television glow. "Conan." She says for no particular reason. Then she changes her position on the couch. Then she says, "I can't stop thinking about canned spaghetti, Jeremy."

And Jeremy understands, or doesn't, but he leaves the two glasses of water on the counter and walks towards to her, almost hesitantly, and too slowly for her taste; so she gets up and kisses him, hard on the mouth. The taste of canned spaghetti simply vanishes from his mouth and instead is her, her skin and her lips and her tongue, and it's not at all like soup in a can and not at all like Natalie, who doesn't even cross his mind for a mere second.

There are certain rules to friendship, and a pretty important one about having sex with your best friend's ex: you just don't. It's not something you do, because that's not how it's done, and if it is then the friendship is bound to be destroyed unless in some miraculous way, the best friend never finds out. Dana knows this and has experienced it, with Lisa and Casey and a sort of a version of it with Sally and Gordon. Tonight she's breaking this rule and it will only occur to her in the morning.

For now, there's canned spaghetti, and in his arms she feels feminine.

FIN