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Mrs. Fletcher Season 2

Summary:

After Brendan's unexpected return from college, Eve must figure out how to balance her new sense of identity with a son who refuses to see her as anything more than someone who he can control.

(a continuation of the AMAZING HBO show using the good parts of the end of the book by Tom Perrotta)

Notes:

welcome! I think the only thing you'll need to know going in is to remember that George Rafferty is the rude guy who yelled at Eve at his father (Roy)'s funeral, Margo is the teacher of Eve's class, and Ashley is Julian's co-worker. enjoy!!!

I own nothing, all rights go to HBO.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Episode 1 - Flailing

Chapter Text

Eve couldn’t sleep. As the hours dragged on she simply lay awake in her bed, the smell of sex lingering on her sheets. She should have washed them, or at least put fresh ones on, but after Brendan had returned so unexpectedly and refused to speak to her, she just didn’t have the energy.

A soft buzz from her nightstand dragged her from her thoughts. Julian, she thought. Or maybe Amanda. Eve sighed, one hand drifting automatically to her forehead and then up into her still sex-crazed hair. Another soft buzz. She can’t face them, either of them. Not after… what they did together. So, she shut her eyes and rolled over, away from her phone and from the only people who might just understand.

~ (this is where the title screen would be if this was an actual episode, I’m thinking ‘Mrs. Fletcher’ (in black) entering a white screen from the sides then cracking in the middle with the 'r' and 'Fletcher’ falling to reveal ‘Ms Mackie’ before waves come up from the bottom and obscure it all)

The next morning, Eve sat at the table in the kitchen, having somehow tamed her hair, with a death grip on the mug in her hand. She couldn’t even find it in her to take a single bite of the breakfast she’d made for herself and for Brendan… not when he still wouldn’t talk to her.

Upstairs, Eve heard Brendan’s door open. In an instant, she’d pulled herself to her feet, wincing as she placed weight on her sprained ankle. Looking up, she saw him paused at the top of the stairs.

“B-Brendan?” Eve stammered. “I-“

Brendan looked away and made his way down the stairs. She started slowly towards him but he looked up and held up a hand.

“I’m going out,” he said and was out the door before Eve could even open her mouth.

“Brendan!” she called after him but it was no use. He was gone.

Eve sighed and sat back down at the table, easing herself back into the chair. She picked up her phone, ignoring multiple unread messages from Julian and instead opened a new message. After she sent it, she set her phone down and took another sip from her cup, hands shaking. A soft buzz. Picking up her phone she read: “Tonight? Of course I’ll come. Don’t worry.”

Eve bit her lip, setting her phone down again before taking another sip. She just had to make it through the rest of the day. Maybe by tonight she’d know what to do next.

~

It didn’t take Eve long to finish getting ready and to make her way to the senior center. Nor did it take her long to park and walk up to the sliding doors. But somewhere between her car and the doors she seemed to have lost all the confidence she’d felt flowing through her body just before as she couldn’t even take one step more forward. Should she go in and pretend nothing had happened? Would things be different now because they had? Would Amanda want to talk about it? Or did Amanda not feel the same way Eve knew, and had known for some time that she did.

If she was being honest with herself, Eve had been attracted to Amanda since she hired her, two years earlier, but hadn’t been able to find the words to describe how she felt. She’d always wondered if Amanda knew, since she hadn’t been particularly subtle, not with the way she looked at Amanda, or the way she used every excuse to touch her.

Eve swallowed hard, remembering the glorious feeling of Amanda’s lips on her own. She closed her eyes and pulled her arms tightly against her, feeling the buttons of her sweater digging into her arms. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, stepping forward and into the center.

She was late but the center was still oddly quiet. Very few people were wandering the halls as Eve made her way to her office. Just as she was reaching for the handle of her door, one of the aides called out.

“Mrs Fletcher!” he said, and she turned sighing slightly. “I just got off the phone with Amanda, she’s not going to be in today, said she’s sick.”

“Oh,” Eve said, at a momentary loss for words. “T-thank you for letting me know.”

The aide nodded and turned to head back down the hall. “Wait,” Eve said and he swiveled to face her. “It’s Ms Mackie now. I’ll have to introduce it slowly to the seniors but I wanted to let someone know!”

She laughed awkwardly and he gave her a small smile. “Sure thing Ms Mackie. I’ll tell the rest of the staff.”

Eve turned away as he walked down the hall and paused, hand on the door handle. Wow. That had felt good. For the first time in so long it felt like she was in control. Of something in her life. She smiled to herself, turned the handle, and went in.

~

Brendan was having a bad day. Hell, not even a bad day, a bad fucking week. He wandered aimlessly down the streets of his hometown, loud rap music blasting in his ears but it did nothing to distract him from the events of the past few days. Every time he closed his eyes he could see his mother lying naked with Julian, JULIAN, and some woman he didn’t even recognize, their laugher ringing in his ears. And he felt as though he’d been punched in the nuts… again. What the fuck was wrong with his mom? How could she be doing anything, let alone that when he needed her? He felt lost abandoned by everyone and unable to figure out what he should do next.

“Are you okay?” A male voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

Brendan looked up into the face of a bald man he didn’t recognize, standing on the street next to him, reaching into a white van labeled Rafferty & Son Plumbing. He took out his headphones.

“Uh, yeah.” he said slowly, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “Just lost in thought.”

The man stared at him. “Well if you’re okay would you mind giving me a hand with this?”

The man shifted his weight and Brendan finally noticed the heavy equipment in his arms. He couldn’t figure a way out so he stepped off the curb and took a few of the bags from the older man, who promptly shut the backdoors of the van.

“What’s your name, son?” The man asked, as they made their way up the street to the doors of a shop whose sign echoed that of the van.

“Uh,” Brendan said as he carefully entered the shop. “Brendan.”

The bald man smiled and shut the door. “Well Brendan, I’m George.” He gestures to the counter for Brendan to set the equipment there and he does so. “Are you around to help out this week? I’ve been running behind since my father died and you seem a little lost yourself right now.”

Brendan stared at George in silence until the man laughed. “You don’t have to say yes but-“

“No,” Brendan cut in. “I’ll do it. What… uh, can I do now?”

He said the last part as though it physically pained him but George didn’t seem to notice.

“Great! Now, let’s move this stuff to the back of the shop.”

~

Buzz. Buzz. Eve sat at her desk, staring at the game night poster on the computer in front of her, unable to focus. Not with Julian texting her every few minutes. She didn’t even have to open the messages to know what he was saying.

3:15pm
heyyy eve
fuck
hey eve
just wanted to see if ur ok

3:20pm
i had fun last night
hope you did too

3:22pm
hello?
eve?

3:30pm
im sorry
ill shut up now

She started to type something then thought better of it and turned her phone over, staring again at her computer. Eve rubbed her eyes, trying to make the words make sense. She sighed and picked up her phone again, swiping out of her messages with Julian and scrolling down until she found the one to Amanda.

“Heard you were out sick today…” she typed quickly as to not lose the nerve. “Hope it isn’t because of what we did last night.”

Eve bit her lip, considering the words, before adding a “x” at the end and sending it before she could change her mind again. She set her phone down again and turned back to the computer, hitting a key or two but the poster was basically finished.

Eve looked down and saw that Amanda had read it. Shit. Fingers trembling, she picked her phone up, watching as Amanda typed then stopped and didn’t return.

Her phone felt back onto her desk with a small thump. Eve squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry. Amanda must not feel the same way about her. Maybe she regretted last night. Eve didn’t. She didn’t think she ever would as long as she lived. Getting to feel that pleasure and getting to feel Amanda’s light touch on her skin… and Julian’s gentleness… there was nothing like it.

Eve took a deep breath and felt her hands steady as she placed them back on the keyboard. It would all be okay. A friend was coming over that night to tell her just okay it was going to be. She’d be fine. Just a few more hours now.

~

Julian should have been stacking shelves but he’d been glued to his phone for past hour, unable to stop texting Eve. He’d probably sent her too many texts but he needed her to know he was okay with what had happened last night… and that he was still interested in her, all of her.

Eve started typing then, stopped. He refreshed his screen, hoping that she was still actually typing.

Suddenly he found himself staring at his empty hands, his phone gone. He looked up in surprised, to see Ashley standing there holding his phone, a timid smile on her lips.

“Who’re you texting, Julian?” She said teasingly.

“Ashley,” he said. “Give me back my phone.”

“Why won't you tell me who you were texting?" She shook her short hair, an innocent look on her face.

Ashley wasn't Eve but Julian couldn’t help smiling just a little.

“It's none of your business.” he replied, turning back to the shelves as he turned a little red. "We should both get back to work."

After a moment she sighed and placed his phone on the shelf where he grabbed it and put it in his pocket. They restocked quietly for a moment.

“I’m still curious though” Ashley said and he gave a little laugh. Why was she so easy to talk to all of a sudden?.

“Oh, you don’t want to know,” Julian looked up at her through his hair and watched her turn towards him, interested. “Just… a friend. No one especially important right now.”

Ashley smiled, and hesitantly reached forward to brush his hair back from his face. Her touch tingled, not in the same way that Eve’s and even Amanda’s had, but still, tingled.

“Alright,” she said, turning back to the shelves, her face bright red. “I can live with that.”

~

It was already late by the time Eve got home. With a heavy sigh, she shut the door and eased off her shoes, letting her coat fall onto the floor. She checked her watch. Perfect. She had about half an hour before her friend was supposed to come. That was enough time to change… or maybe even take a shower.

Eve limped over to her bedroom and slid her dress off, collapsing onto her bed in just her bra and panties. She closed her eyes, letting her hand drift down, lips twitching as it made contact with her skin. Eve swallowed and opened her eyes. Unclasping her bra and letting it fall, she reached around and pulled her laptop down off her nightstand. Opening it, she was immediately greeted with the sound of at least fifteen moans at once. Biting her lip, she scrolled through her opened tabs until she landed on her favorite, a girl on girl one.

Setting her laptop down on her bed, Eve leaned back as the women started the foreplay. This had always been her favorite part, watching the connection form between the women, wondering, then seeing what they were going to do to each other. Almost unconsciously, her hand slid down into her underwear, giving a little gasp as she encountered the wetness already forming there. As the women began to touch each other, Eve moved her other hand up onto her breast and began flicking her nipple, softly at first then fast and faster as she also increased the intensity down below. Almost grinding into her hand now, she bit back a moan and leaned forward, hair wild.

Onscreen, one of the women grinned, her face almost buried into the other woman’s sweet spot.

“You like that?” she said, her voice barely above a growl.

Eve moaned now, long and loud, falling backwards onto her bed, and suddenly there was Amanda leaning over her, a wry smile on her face as she bent to kiss her. Eve met her halfway, and at the same time drove a finger in. The resulting pleasure was so great that Eve forgot to breathe for a moment and arched on her bed, hands moving faster and faster on her nipple and down below, adding another finger until she could barely stand it.

A slightly muffled moan from her computer shook her from the fantasy and panting she slowly extracted the fingers. She pushed back her hair with her free hand and finished herself off with a few more lazy motions. Every part of her was wet, both from sweat and other fluids she refused to give a name to.

Eve lay there for a few moments, trying desperately to catch her breath, when the doorbell rang.

Fuck. she thought. Already?

~

Margo stood at Eve’s door, a bit nervous. She’d been surprised to get a text from Eve this morning, especially one so urgent seeming. But she wanted to be there for Eve. Eve was really the only reason she and Curtis had become close, had even kissed. So even if it meant setting aside an evening when she really should be grading papers, she’d be there.

Eve opened the door, dressed as though she’d gotten dressed in the dark, wearing sweats and an old t-shirt, her hair a wild and untamed mess.

Margo opened her mouth, pausing as she watched as Eve’s lip trembled and she burst into tears.

“Eve!” Margo exclaimed and swept her arms around the shorter woman, taking her inside.

After shutting the door, Margo helped Eve over to her couch and sat her down, taking the other woman’s hands in her own.

“Okay, I’m here,” Margo said carefully once Eve’s tears had reduced to sniffles. “What’s going on?”

Eve took a deep breath and sighed, releasing her hands from Margo’s in order to push her hair back. She closed her eyes and laughed quietly.

“What’s not going on, honestly,” Eve said pushing herself into a more comfortable position. “Well for one, I, uh, I-I slept with Amanda. And Julian. Last night. At the same time.”

Eve peeked over at Margo who was silently staring at her. Margo swallowed and let out a laugh.

“Of all the things you could have said just now that was not what I was expecting.” Margo said and Eve joined her and both of them laughed for a minute.

Once they stopped, Eve said: “There’s more.”

Margo looked over at her and Eve’s lip twisted as she looked down.

“Besides the fact that I think I’ve been head over heels for Amanda for a long time, and that I’ve obviously been into Julian as well I…” she trailed off and squeezed her eyes shut. “I think I-I have a porn problem.”

Margo bit her lip to stop a smile. “A porn problem?”

Eve looked up at Margo, face slightly pained. “Yeah… I-I watch it a lot and… well, I’m finding it hard to stop.”

Margo reached out and took Eve’s hands in hers again. “Hey, admitting you have a problem is always the first step.”

Eve nodded and squeezed Margo’s hands. Margo cleared her throat.

“But… can we talk about you sleeping with Amanda? And Julian?”

Eve laughed again and pulled her hands out of Margo’s to play with her hair again. “Well, it was very good… we had a lot of fun.”

“I’m glad,” Margo said and Eve looked at her. “I’m also curious as you said you’ve liked Amanda for a long time…”

“Yeah,” Eve cut her off, a small smile lighting up her face. “I wasn’t ready to accept it for so long but… god, she’s so hot and I just love talking to her.”

“That’s always the best,” Margo affirmed and Eve looked down again.

“I haven’t thought much about labels,” Eve admitted cautiously, smoothing her hands on her sweats. “I know I like Amanda… and Julian, obviously, and at one point in time my ex-husband but like… it’s all so complicated. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“You don’t have to,” Margo’s voice was warm and Eve glanced over at her. “If you feel comfortable in who you are, there’s no need to label, now or ever.”

Eve smiled and then let out a noise.

“Oh FUCK,” she said. “I forgot my son Brendan came home last night and found the three of us in bed together. He won’t even talk to me and now I don’t know what to do.”

“He’ll come around,” Margo said and Eve let out a short laugh. “Might not be soon but one day he’ll just have to accept it.”

Upstairs, the door banged open. Eve carefully stood as Brendan stormed in. She opened her mouth as if to say something but Brendan cut her off.

“No, mom. I still don’t want to talk to you.” He said angrily and disappeared into his room.

Eve turned back to Margo and threw up her hands, tears in her eyes. Margo stood, a comforting smile on her face.

“Okay, well now that I’ve met your son I think he needs a good talking to.” Margo said and Eve laughed wiping her eyes. “Stand up to him. Tell him how you feel and that you’re not going to let him get away with anything. Not anymore.”

Eve nodded and there was silence for a moment.

“Well, I guess that’s my cue to go,” Margo said and turned to head upstairs but Eve caught her arm.

Margo turned back and Eve threw her arms around the taller woman.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for coming and thank you for listening.”

Margo squeezed Eve back before releasing her. “Anytime, Eve. I’ll let myself out. You, go talk to your son.”

Eve smiled at Margo made her way upstairs and out. Eve took a deep breath and turned now towards Brendan’s room.

~

Brendan lay sprawled on his bed, loud rap music blasting from his speakers. He was typing out a message to his friend Wade seeing if he wanted to head to the gym later that week, when a soft knock sounded on his door and Eve entered.

“NO,” Brendan said over the music. “No, you may not come in.”

Eve didn’t listen and came over to sit on his bed next to him, turning off the music as she did so. Rolling his eyes, Brendan sat up and faced her. Eve sighed before turning towards him and giving a little smile.

“I don’t think either of us want to talk about what you saw last night,” here Brendan made a face but Eve held up her hand. “But you need to know that I don’t regret it.”

“Ew, mom-”

“No, Brendan, let me finish,” Eve swallowed and looked down. “I’ve been living half a life since your father and I got divorced, and it’s only now that I’ve felt able to let myself explore who I want to be.”

Eve looked Brendan dead in the eyes and he flinched ever so slightly.

“I don’t live to serve you, Brendan. You’re my son and I love you but now I need to focus on myself.” Eve laughed and threw up her hands. “For god’s sake Brendan, you’re an adult, you’re in college, you shouldn’t expect me to be at your every beck and call.”

Brendan huffed and Eve intensified her stare.

“I’m sorry you had to see that last night but your opinion of me doesn’t change who I am and what I want. And if I want to let lose and let a party get out of control-“

“Gross mom-“

“I will.” Eve finished and smiled at Brendan. “Okay?”

Brendan just stared at her, silent until Eve sighed.

“Are you going to say anything?”

Brendan gave a small laugh.

“Not sure how anything I say will make me unsee last night-“

“Please Brendan-“

“But yeah, I have something to say.” Brendan sat up a little straighter and met his mother’s stare head on. “I want to drop out of school.”

Eve’s mouth dropped open and she found herself unable to form words.

“Yeah, I’ve figured it all out mom,” Brendan continued, gesturing with his hands now. “I’ll get a job, maybe take a couple classes at the community center and work my way into some field. I just don’t think college… is for me.”

He waited for his mother’s response but none came. Finally, Eve shut her mouth and swallowed.

“Well,” she said finally, shaking her head and blinking. “That was certainly unexpected.”

Notes:

you made it! if you've read this far THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. this is only the first episode of a planned 7 but I have no clue when I'll post the rest. I have most of episode 2 outlined but I'll still need to write it and the next few weeks are gonna be CRAZY (yay college). for now, enjoy this chapter and I'll get the rest out when I get the chance x