Perverts 'R' Us

Second Chances

By Danyealle ( M/F, rom )

Sitting on the windowsill, naked, cheek resting on her bent knees, cigarette burning between her fingers she gazed up at the moon. Cool and white, its eerie light bathed the back yard in a silvery glow. Gazing at the pockmarked orb that had both fascinated and terrified people for hundreds of years she wondered if he still gazed at it at night like he used to, fascinated by its cold beauty in the night sky. Glancing over at the old-fashioned, four-poster bed, she could see his form curled under the blanket, like a giant comma, his soft snores the only thing you could hear in the room. Glancing back at the window, she put her spread palm on the upper pane, covering the orb with her hand, and then shut her eyes.

It seemed so long ago, even though only a couple years had passed, that the end had come. No, it wasn't really anyone's fault, just one of those things that happen. Her star was just starting to rise, whereas he was on top and going to retire. The time they had once had together slowly drifted away as the both worked hard to achieve what they wanted. As he gradually got more free time as the last of the loose ends were tied up, she gradually had less of it, busy with all the details of a busy career and traveling. Slowly, they drifted apart. Then there was no time left. His last tour and her first, the time was gone. They had one day together in eight months and both were so exhausted all they did was sleep. Finally, the end came when his tour was done. She was looking at 18 more months on the road, covering the whole world and he was home with his kids like he wanted. Although the decision wasn't without pain, the inevitable happened; they were over. While they were still friends, close ones that talked as often as they could, the romance was done.

Leaning her head against the cool glass, she shut her eyes and thought of him, remembering how he looked and how it felt to be with him. Slowly, one single tear rolled down her cheek, the silvery moonlight catching it and causing it to sparkle, like an exquisite piece of the finest cut crystal.

Shaking herself out of the trance, she sniffed and wiped her eyes. Stabbing the cigarette out, roughly, in the ashtray she then set it aside then slid back into bed next to his sleep-warmed body.

Waking up slightly, he instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Nuzzling his face into her hair, he mumbled, voice slurred and fuzzy from sleep, "You OK, Mickey?"

Curling up to his thin chest, she rested her head on is breastbone, listening to the soft thunder of his beating heart. "Yeah, I'm fine. Was just jotting down a couple lines that came to me in a dream and having a smoke is all, nothing to worry about. Go back to sleep Rix."

"Kk." He said, voice growing thicker as he slid back into the depths of sleep.

Sighing softly, she brushed some of his mane of mousy brown hair out of her face and shut her eyes. It took a long time for sleep to come then when it did the dreams were of him.

~2~

In his palatial Cold Water Canyon mansion, he watched the moon start to rise. Harkening back to an old childhood superstition, he held his hand up then 'pinched' the moon between them then shut his eyes and made a wish. When done he opened them and blew, 'releasing' the orb back into the sky. Sighing, he leaned against the side of the window pane and looked at the frosty orb in the sky then wondered if she ever watched it anymore and thought about him. It had always been a ritual of theirs to talk on the phone if they weren't together and watch the moon rise at night when they were in the same hemisphere.

Sighing, he dropped his gaze and looked around at the other houses on the street. Here he was rich, successful, living in a place that most could never afford, hell you couldn't buy a house in this neighborhood for under a million dollars, and he was miserable. He had it all, all but the one thing he wanted most, her. It wasn't until a year after their split that he realized what a mistake letting her slip through his fingers was. Yes, he understood the reason it had happened and the fact that at the time it had been unavoidable, but now he regretted it.

When he thought about it now, he would play it over in his mind and second-guess everything. From the perspective of hindsight, all those "what ifs" came up. What if he had done things differently? What if he had gone on tour with her? What if he had divided his time between home and her? What if, what if, what if… There were a million of them now, but none of them changed the fact that they weren't together anymore. Leaning the side of his face against the pane of glass, he traced small hearts onto the window with his finger, eyes far away as he thought of her and what they had once had, replaying through his mind all the good moments.

"Tommy, come on! If you don't get your ass in gear and put a move on it we're going to be late! They are holding the dinner in your honor and it wouldn't look good if we showed up after they start seating people!"

Hastily, he rubbed out the hearts he had traced, a guilty expression on his face. "Alright Marilyn, give me ten minutes and we'll be ready to roll."

Standing in front of the mirror on the back of the door that led to their walk-in closet, she affixed the diamond earrings he had given her as a wedding present. Glaring at him in the reflection, she huffed, "What is WRONG with you? You look like someone just ran over your dog or something." As always, she was completely dressed, make-up on flawlessly and her honey colored hair perfect.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the hanger his tuxedo was on and headed towards the bathroom, "Nothing, just a bit of woolgathering is all." Shutting the door behind him he hung the robe he was wearing on the back of it then started to pull on the Armani tux that Marilyn had bought him for the occasion. As he looked in the mirror to make sure his tie was on straight and his thinning brown hair was all where it should be, he stopped and sighed. In the reflection he could see the face of the platinum blonde he had fallen so hard for. Her eyes, that smile, that svelte frame that had everything in just the right place, all of it came back to him. A sharp rap on the door and Marilyn's thick southern drawl that had that knife edge he knew was a sign of her irritation, told him, in no uncertain terms, to move it.

Sighing, he looked back into the mirror but the spell had been broken and her face was gone. Sighing heavily, he shut his eyes and her face immediately came to him. Quietly, he held that image there for several moments, savoring the memories her face brought up. Opening his eyes, he stared at his reflection and said quietly, "You are one STUPID fuck, do you know that? YOU let her go!" Hearing his other half stomp around in the other room, knowing that was a forbearer to a nasty confrontation that needed headed off at the pass, he shook himself out of the daze and pulled the jacket on. Doing one last check in the mirror to make sure everything was where it belonged, he turned out the light and opened the door.

While he sat through a dinner given in his honor and rubbed elbows with the powerful from the music, TV and movie worlds, and his mind kept drifting back to her. He wondered if she saw the moon in New Zealand the same way he saw it in California.

~3~

They were both tabloid darlings, but for separate reasons. He had been the good, wholesome country singer with the golden voice and sterling reputation. She, on the other hand, was the hard rocking metal artists with a gritty voice that told of the darker side of life in her songs. The only scandal he had to withstand was the end of his marriage, but it hadn't been that bad, just watching the painful hurts of a failed marriage play out in the papers for all to read was hurtful is all. On the other hand, she was always in the weekly rags for some reason or other, from some antic that would have gotten her labeled as a free spirit, nothing bad or wrong, in the normal world to a controversy over something in her latest video, she was the darling of the tabloids that made a mint following her exploits. Little did those trashy papers know that the story that would have been huge was one they never covered or even learned of at the time; the romance between Mickey and Tommy.

It had come about much the way it does some times, he was friends with her brothers, having been a college roommate with Hunter, the older of the two boys. As his marriage fell apart he had stayed with his old friend for a bit to hide out and lick his wounds. That was when he "discovered" the kid sister. While only four years younger than Hunter she was someone that Tommy hadn't really noticed until that time. When he did it was like the collision of two comets in space, the sparks and fire was there for all that knew them to see.

Sadly, like so many relationships between those who are famous, it wasn't to last. It wasn't until they had parted ways that reporters from the gossip rags had sniffed out the story and ran with it. Now, it seemed, every couple of weeks there was a story about their failed romance, ones that seemed to find new boundaries to the star-crossed lover angle of two people who still loved each other dearly but couldn't be together. While the facts they got from their "informants" were usually fairly accurate in the basics, neither of the two in the center of the stories would confirm, or deny, that there had ever been a romance in the first place. That fact was the one that sent the editors into frothing frenzies on a regular basis. She was notorious for not giving interviews to anyone, as a matter of fact she avoided media of any kind and wouldn't even do interviews, or guest appearances to promote her music, pushing that task off on her band members, who loved doing it. He did talk to reporters but steadfastly avoided the topic of her and would change the subject entirely if her name was even mentioned.

That didn't stop the speculation though. That star-crossed romance sold too many papers for it to be left alone. When she had hooked up with Rix Rockett, the former lead singer with the band Ice Age who had put out the one hit wonder Sex Me and he had hooked up with the moderately successful country singer Marilyn Anders, there had been a feeding frenzy among the tabloids. Suddenly there were stories in every issue about how Marilyn hated Mickey and how Rix hated Tommy. What surprised both Tommy and Mickey was just how accurate those stories were even though neither of them would talk about it and those where were closest to them would have rather cut their tongue out than even mention it to anyone beyond their inner circle.

Yes, it was true that Rix hated Tommy. But hate was too mild of a word. The deep loathing and unmitigated fury that the mere mention of her former lover's name would bring about knew no depths. One of the first things he had done when he moved in with her was to get rid of anything that had Tommy's name on it or that he had bought for her. While she made sure the things weren't in the house, she refused to get rid of them. Instead she put them into storage, out of sight, out of mind was her reasoning and it worked. As long as they were gone Rix didn't seem to care what had happened to them. It didn't end there however; one mention of their former romance in any of the weekly rags was enough to send him over the edge. It didn't matter that most of it was speculation or supposition on the part of the person writing the article, with no actual evidence of anything, Rix would immediately fly into a red rage over it.

On the other end, things weren't much better for Tommy. Marilyn seemed to hate Mickey with the same voracity that Rix felt for Tommy. Each article the two were mentioned in was enough to send her into fits of screeching anger and demands of Tommy to set the record straight. She was a veteran of the music world and knew as well as anyone just what tabloid journalism was like but that didn't matter when it came to the Tommy/Mickey stories. Any coherent thought on the matter was gone, replaced with a jealous rage over a woman that was many years her junior, more famous and, as the rags pointed out with almost a sadistic glee on a regular basis, much better looking. Like a tormented bull having the red cape waved in front of them, Marilyn set out to erase any trace of Mickey from her husbands' life.

Shortly after both couples had settled into a life together on what appeared to be a permanent basis, marriage for one, co-habitation for the other, a story had run in several of the weekly rags of a supposed statement from Tommy that stated if Mickey would take him back he would dump Marilyn in a second and make sure Rix would be gone for good. It had taken weeks afterwards, on both their ends, to smooth that one over. While one would have thought, that in the interest of peace in both houses, that the former lovers would have fallen out of touch with each other, they didn't. Clandestinely, at least twice a week, they spoke for several hours on the phone. While they avoided the topic of their respective significant others, the friendship that had extended before their hook up and stretched beyond their break-up held strong and survived it all. They talked about everything else, like old, close friends do, keeping each other current with what was going on in their lives. Although they both longed to tell the other what they still felt, they didn't.

~4~

The next morning her and Rix hustled around, making sure everything was packed and ready to go. Her new CD, Shadows and Light, was due out soon and she was needed in New York incase there was a need for any changes and to film the video for the 1st single, Look at the Moon. Of course, Rix was surly throughout the long flight. This was a pattern for him, anything that reminded him that he was no longer on top, with no prospects foreseeable in the future to get him there again, put him in a bad mood. Surly or not, he wasn't about to let her go alone. Like most jealous men, he was insecure about himself and his relationship with her, so the thought of her being off on her own where she might meet someone else was unthinkable.

Of course, like always, from the time she stepped off the plane the paparazzi were on her tail. They followed her around wherever she went, hoping to catch that one moment where she would do something unexpected or be caught in a position that would make worldwide headlines and mean big bucks for the person who caught it on film. Even though one might be used to them dogging your every move it didn't mean you liked it. Despite the fact that she had to deal with them all the time, Mickey loathed their presence and did everything she could to avoid them if at all possible.

A few days after arriving, she came into the apartment to find Rix sprawled out on the couch, pouring through the latest gossip rags. Groaning and rolling her eyes at what was to come, she dropped her coat and purse then went and grabbed a cold soda from the fridge. Flopping into a chair, she turned the TV on and started channel surfing. Sitting up, Rix tossed one of the papers on her lap and snarled, "Do you see what they wrote about my mum again?"

Picking it up, she glanced at the picture on the cover. There, indeed, was his mother once again. Mother Rockett was almost as notorious as her son was when it came to bad behavior. A heavy drinker, she was always drawing attention to herself for her drunken antics, from doing a striptease at the local watering hole to being arrested in pub brawls, the woman seemed to go out of her way to make sure she was noticed as much as her semi-famous son was. This time the focus was on her new passion; one of those new age religions that promised you everything under the sun, as long as you make sure you tithed them 10% of your income that is. It seemed that the elder Rockett had been trying to convert half of New Zealand to her 'religion', from the highest in the government all the way down to the pub patrons at the local watering hole. Having gotten their teeth into what was sure to become a juicy scandal, the tabloids had picked up on the story and ran with it. They had not only done a scathing expose of the Israel-based 'faith' and its guru, but also published a long laundry list of the elder Rockett's exploits, most of which were very much against the tenants of her new religion.

Rolling her the large, dark brown eyes that so many seemed drawn to, she tossed the paper onto the coffee table and took a swig of her soda. "Does it surprise you? With the way she's been going on about the whole thing it was inevitable that one of the rags was going to pick it up."

Snarling, he glared at her, "Did you see what they said? They are saying she joined a cult!"

Giving him a look that was both exasperated and telling him was overreacting at the same time, she calmly said, "It IS a cult! You said so yourself! Why get so upset that they are saying the exact same thing you did about it?"

"Because they make her sound like a total and complete git, that's why! It's like they are telling the world that she's an idiot and will get sucked in to any foolish thing that comes her way!"

Rolling her eyes again, she sighed, "Rix, she IS an idiot that keeps getting sucked in to moronic things! How many times have you had to bail her out of some mess or another? Look at the time she got herself involved with that New Age wack-job in Australia. She had actually shaved her head and was about to sign everything she had over to him when you found out about it. It was sheer dumbass, blind luck that you got there in time to stop it."

Seething, he glared at her, "That isn't the point! You know she's a git, I know she's a git, I just don't like it plastered out there for everyone else to see!" Standing up, he rifled through a stack of the papers on the chair then pulled out one of them and tossed it to her. Glaring at her, eyes ablaze, he snarled, "You and the ass are on the cover again!"

Sighing heavily, and thinking "here we go again", she picked up the paper to see her and Tommy's' picture on the cover yet again. This time the caption was "Are They Going to Meet Up For the Music Awards?" Tossing it on top of the other one she shook her head, "Nothing new there. All guess work to make it sound good is all, you know that."

Standing there, breathing like an enraged bear about to attack, he glared at her.

Sighing deeply, she took a swig of the soda and waited for it to begin.

Although the coming argument was nothing new and has been hashed out before, more times than she could count, this time was different, although she didn't know it. While she was off putting finishing touched on things before the release of the CD he had been off slumming around with some old friends of his. Those old drinking buddies had re-introduced him to an even older friend, cocaine, one that he was well acquainted with from his time on the road. While Rix loved that magical dust that dust had an affect on him that no one loved, it unleashed a violent streak that was almost homicidal. From the time she had left that morning until a half an hour before she had walked into the door he had gone through all he had bought the day before. The more he snorted the angrier he got at everything, especially her and the thought that she and Tommy might have planned something to hook up.

~5~

It was 3:30 AM when the phone rang and jolted Tommy out of a deep sleep. Fumbling around for the handset without turning the light on, so Marilyn didn't wake up if she hadn't already; he grabbed it and hit the talk button then mumbled, "What?" while rubbing the crust out of his eyes.

Rolling over onto her side, Marilyn muttered a slurred, "Tell them we don't want any," before slipping back into the deep breathing of sleep.

"Tommy, it's Hunter." His old friend said into the phone.

Sliding out of bed, he slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind him softly so he didn't wake his wife, and then headed downstairs. "What the fuck, Hunter? Do you know what time it is?"

There was a lot of racket going on around him so Hunter had to raise his voice, "Yeah, I do and I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important."

Flopping onto the sofa, Tommy felt a cold chill run down his back. Fully awake, his throat tightened up and he whispered, "What happened to Mickey?"

Sighing, feeling older than his years, exhaustion creeping into his bones, Hunter replied, "It's bad Tommy."

Just as the first pink of daylight was creeping into the horizon, Tommy was on a plane taking off for a non-stop flight to New York City. Despite the temper tantrum, ranting, and raving, Marilyn hadn't come. She had wanted to, in the worst way, but for once Tommy had put his foot down.

~6~

Her first thought when she woke up was that she hurt everywhere. It felt as though she had been run over by a large piece of machinery. She was sure that even her hair was screaming in outraged pain. Rolling onto her side with a loud, agonized groan, she opened her eyes. There, like some kind of realistic illusion, was Tommy. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to sit up but her whole body protested at the movement by sending a lightning bold of white-hot agony throughout her body. Flopping back, sweat beading on her forehead and upper lip, she whimpered in agony.

Gently, Tommy used a wet washcloth to wipe her face with then took her hand, every so gently, in his, "Don't move Mickey. Just lay there."

Turning her head, she looked at him through the pain-filled haze. "Tommy?" was all she was able to croak out through her dry, parched throat.

Holding a straw to her lips, so that she could get a drink of ice water, he stroked her hair softly as she drank, "The one and only." He said, forcing a smile.

After her arid throat was lubricated a little, she looked into his face. While he was the same as always, he appeared to be exhausted, dark circles were under his eyes, and his skin seemed to be a bit pale and drawn. She was about to ask what happened when the memory flooded over her. Shuddering she reached out for his hand and grabbed it, squeezing tightly. "Where is Rix?" She asked, softly.

His jaw clenched, causing a small tick in the muscle in his cheek, and his blue eyes hardened but he relied calmly, "In jail."

Nodding, she shut her eyes. "Get someone to get his shit out of my place. I don't want him to come back every again." She said, her tone taking on the firmness it always did when she had made up her mind about something and wouldn't change it no matter what.

With a small smile of satisfaction, he nodded, "Don't worry, someone will take care of it."

Giving his hand a tight squeeze, she nodded. Feeling a bone-deep weariness wash over her, she started to doze back off. Before she completely drifted off on a wave of drug-induced sleep she mumbled, "Listen to 'Look at the Moon'.

~7~

Unlike so many in her situation, Mickey was no fool. She stuck firm to her conviction to be done with Rix. Rather than do what so many did after their partner beat the hell out of them, she didn't bail him out, letting him sit in jail until he could come up with the bail money. Once out she slapped an order or protection on him and refused any contact with him at all, even so much as a phone call to apologize to her wasn't allowed. She was done with the jackass.

While the debacle was front-page news for weeks afterwards, she ignored the whole thing. Despite the demands of the media, she wouldn't allow anyone close or the hospital to give out any information. When the D.A. came to her with an offer to plead Rix out with some jail time and forced rehab he gave her consent, trying to put the whole thing behind her.

Much to Marilyn's' displeasure, Tommy flew to New York several times to be with her during the recovery period. It came as no surprise to anyone when she served him with divorce papers. Rather than upset, he was actually relieved about it, trying to get things settled as quickly as he could. Thanks to an almost ironclad pre-nup. There really wasn't much to fight about.

As time went on, and her wounds began to heal, she and Tommy spent more and more time together. While she was still in the hospital, he listened to that song and understood what no one else who listened to it would; that, indeed, she still thought about him as he did her. While they didn't jump into it with both feet, the rekindled the romance and took it slow.

Like so many in that situation, after the incident with Rix Mickey changed. She became more open and honest about things with those close to her and started talking about things she had kept buried for so long. In a surprise move to everyone, including those closest to her, she sat down for an in depth interview with a journalist famous for celebrity interviews that always ran right before major awards shows. Unlike times in the past she honestly answered questions about Tommy and their relationship, openly admitting she did very much love him and that they were back together.

About a week before the awards, her and Tommy sat and watched the interview together in her palatial LA apartment. Rather than be upset like she was worried he would be, he smiled and squeezed her hand during the part she talked about him. When he was over he pulled her into his lap and held her close, resting his cheek against her temple. "I never stopped loving you, you know that don't you Mickey?"

Stroking his arms she smiled and leaned back against his chest, "I know and I didn't ever stop loving you either."

Putting a finger under her chin, he tilted her head back and kissed her tenderly. Breaking off the kiss after a couple minutes she shifted around in his lap until she was facing him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

Taking her queue, he slid his arms around her and held her close then stood up and carried her off to the bedroom. Sitting her on the edge of the bed he quickly divested himself of his clothes while she practically tore her own off in haste to remove them. Pulling her hips to the edge of the bed, he positioned himself, still standing, between her legs and slid his already rock hard and throbbing cock deep into her dripping pussy in one gentle stroke.

Groaning as he filled her, her legs wrapped around his waist. Sitting up, she put one hand behind his head and pulled him down, laying back as she did, pulling him into a fervent kiss, her tongue sliding into his mouth.

Groaning into her mouth, he started thrusting into her harder, his cock already throbbing madly and demanding release. Keeping a tight control on his passion, he devoured her mouth, reaching down and gently flicking her pulsating clit the way he knew she liked it.

Arching up, pushing her pelvis down onto his finger, she whimpered into his mouth, her fingers running through his hair, messing it up. Slowly, her hips began to buck upwards, matching his long strokes. Even though they had barely begun, her clit was already throbbing madly, signaling that her orgasm wasn't far off. She had wanted and waited this for so long that her excitement level was off the scale. There would be no long, drawn out lovemaking session this time; it would be the quick animalistic want that would take the edge off the heat this time.

Hips pistoning faster, Tommy grunted into her mouth, his finger never leaving her clit. He could already feel his balls screaming for release but he held off the best he could, waiting for her.

As she crossed the threshold of no return, she began thrashing all over the bed, nails digging into his scalp. Bucking hard up against him, he pulled her mouth off his and let out a loud wail then came, hard, drenching his crotch with her juices.

Feeling her tight pussy spasm around his already madly-throbbing cock, he could hold it no more. Moaning so loud the walls seemed to vibrate from it; he came, bathing her insides with his own load, cock still thrusting into her.

Afterwards, as they lay cuddled up in that big bed, he held her close, stroking her hair softly. "What do YOU think Mickey?"

Tracing small circles on his chest with the tip of her finger, she looked up at him and smiled, "I think we made mistakes last time. But like most reasonably intelligent beings, we learned from them. If we take it slow and easy, it'll work out, I'm sure."

Grinning from ear to ear, he hugged her close and buried his face in her hair, "Does that mean you're willing to get married this time?"

Poking him gently a couple times, she giggled, "While I didn't say it in that many words, yes that's what I meant."

Kissing the top of her head, he stroked her back, smiling, "I've waited a long time to hear that."

Shutting her eyes, she just smiled, arm draped around him, starting to doze off with a satisfied smile on her face.