A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

By Michele Lellouche

Email: culturevulture73@gmail.com

SPOILERS: "The Dark"

RATING: PG

FOR: The Holidaze with Nicholas Fanfic Challenge. Sorry, it's around 750
words. As Nick would probably say, "sue me."

DISCLAIMERS: David Hollander Productions, Gran Via Productions and CBS
Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television own 'em. I'm
borrowing them for awhile and I'll put them back nicely in their action
figure boxes when I'm done. No harm, no foul.

SUMMARY: Hate life? See a movie.

--+--

Nick Fallin didn't even managed to get his suit coat off before he
collapsed on his couch--and came face to face with his scratched coffee
table. He closed his eyes and wondered if he had the strength to crawl
to the shower.

Dad had gone home--thank God, after that fight on the bridge. Alvin and
James had gone back to their lives as if nothing had happened. Nick
wanted to go back to rehab. A nice quiet room. Maybe with padding.

_I want to be a hermit. Find a mountain, build a house, order everything
from the Internet._

Of course, his cell phone trilled.

Of course, he answered it.

"Nick? Laurie."

"Hi, Laurie." He never had the heart to tell her there was no way he
could mistake her honeyed voice for anyone else.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm thinking of moving to a mountaintop away from humanity."

"Bad day?"

"Unspeakable."

"We had a chaperone cancel and I promised the older children at the
Children's Shelter we'd go see 'Harry Potter' tonight. I wouldn't've
called but you're one of the few adults I know who actually goes to
movies--"

If he were the crying type, he would be sobbing about now. But as he
stared at the dark room and smelled the faint traces of his father's
cigarette smoke, he decided that sitting here tonight would make him
crazy. "Sure, I'll go. Where and when?"

On his arrival at the theater, Laurie handed him a gaggle of boys to
supervise. He recognized Josh Bennett, who immediately took charge of
the group and named them off to Nick. Introduced, Fallin organized
snack buying, a bathroom trip, then he and the boys took over several
seats down towards the front. They grouped around him, obviously happy
to have, instead of Laurie, an adult male who didn't act "old" by their
lights. Nick decided to play along with the kids, feet propped on the
seat in front of him, with his own popcorn. "Okay, I didn't see the
first one. You're going to have to catch me up."

They competed to retell the first Potter book. By the time the lights
went down and the "Lord of the Rings: Two Towers" trailer began, Nick
was forgetting the week.

************
"So, what did you think of the movie?" Laurie asked when they had
finally managed to get the kids in the door and out of their hair.

"I enjoyed it. Josh and his gang," he winced as he said it, "caught me
up on the story." With a sly smile, he added, "We decided that you were
Professor McGonagall."

Nick was surprised when Laurie laughed and he smiled even more. God, it
was good to have a happy conversation once in awhile.

"I like that. I always wanted to be Maggie Smith when I grew up." She
smiled slyly in return. "Interesting that the boys had pegged me when
the girls and I decided that we'd found your character too."

Nick raised his eyebrows, nodding her on. "Who? Don't tell me--Snape?"
At her amused look, he groaned. "Not Kenneth Branagh's character."

"No, we were thinking in 'Lord of the Rings.' We decided Legolas."

Fallin looked askance at her. "Outside of the fact we're both blond?"

"Well, you're also both always so composed and calm and polished, even
at the worst." She smiled at him. "You're both also ruthless in
defense."

He stopped cold at that, met her eyes, then dropped his gaze. "I doubt
they said that."

"No, I did," she said with a smile.

Nick let the compliment roll over him, enjoyed a little praise for the
first time in days, someone not giving him grief. "So what's the next
movie?"

"James Bond, I think. Then I don't know. Josh is the ringleader."

"I can try to be there. Can't promise anything. But I will definitely be
there for 'Lord of the Rings.'"

"I'm looking forward to that one." Laurie said brightly.

"You've read the books?" he asked, surprised.

"A long time ago." She smiled. "You?"

"Yeah. Long time ago too." He looked away. "Thank you, I needed this
tonight," he admitted softly.

"I'm glad you came too. Still going to move to a mountaintop?"

He cocked his head, almost shrugged. "Maybe not this week."

"Good. We need you down here." She turned, started toward her car,
calling over her shoulder. "Good night, Nick."

"Night, Laurie."

THE END