The Best Friends You'll Ever Have | 13: Sussudio

[luxken27]

Chapter Title: 13 | Sussudio
Prompt: #018 - Sharon Schafer
Universe: Early canon (#4 Mary Anne Saves the Day)
Genre: Romance
Rating: K+
Warning: none
Word Count: 1,866
Summary: Moving back to Stoneybrook is hard, but Sharon discovers that there are perks to returning to her hometown.

Links: FF.net | LJ | DW | AO3

This was my gift to ozqueen for the 2011 fandom_stocking holiday exchange. It's also my first *real* crack at writing parent!fic, for which I was all ZOMG!excited...only to then see that one of ozqueen's resolutions for the new year was to (attempt, at least, to) move away from parent!fic *facepalm*

I never said I had good timing, LOL.

This story is set during one of the early classic books, #4 Mary Anne Saves the Day. I wanted to capture that first moment when Richard and Sharon saw each other, in person, for the first time in who knows how many years - and I wanted to do it from Sharon's POV, mostly because I find it easier to describe a male character in glowing, dreamy terms than a female character, LOL :P

From the mythical Chapter 16 (!!) of the book, we have this scene:

What I saw nearly took my breath away. Dawn was in the hall, taking her coat off – and her mother and my father were standing at the door, staring at each other: Dawn saw me, grinned, and gave me the thumbs-up sign.

I opened my eyes wide. Then I grinned, too. Despite the fact that my hands were sticky and little pieces of carrot were clinging to my soda-soaked skirt, I joined the others in the hall.

“Dad,” I said, “this is Mrs. Schafer, Dawn’s mother. Mrs. Schafer, this is my dad, Mr. Spier.” I waited for a reaction. “I think you two know each other,” I added.

My father recovered himself. “Yes. Yes, of course we do. Sharon, it’s wonderful to see you. If s been years.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Richie,” replied Dawn’s mother.

Richie! I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from giggling.

“Please come in,” my father went on.

“Oh, I’d love to, but I can’t stay,” said Mrs. Schafer. “I’ve got to pick up Dawn’s brother at hockey practice.”

“Dawn,” I said quickly, “there’s a huge mess in the kitchen. Come help me clean it up.”

“Oh, sure,” she replied. We hustled into the kitchen. But we didn’t clean up. We hovered by the door, trying to hear what was going on in the hall.

“I’m glad you’re back in Stoneybrook,” my father said. “Would you like to have dinner sometime?”

“I’d love to. When?” was the fast answer.

“When?” Dad repeated, sounding flustered. “Well, how about tomorrow night?”

“Wonderful.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” said my father.

Dawn and I looked at each other. We gripped hands excitedly. A date! Our parents were going to go out on a date!

“Oh, and I’ll drop Dawn off tonight,” added Dad. “No need for you to make another trip.”

Mrs. Schafer thanked my father and left. Dad returned to the kitchen, looking dazed.

D'awww ♥

I took the description of Sharon straight from the text, but this illustration from Mary Anne's Book was what I was drawing on for Richard (since he's much younger in this picture, and I always picture the parents to be younger looking in the first few books of the series, before the time warp):



...suffice to say, it wasn't very difficult to imagine being all moony-eyed over him, LOL :P Dreamboat dads of Stoneybrook, indeed!

I decided to write this from Sharon's POV for a couple of reasons - not only would it knock out a character prompt from my table (yay!) but also, I just have the way fanon has characterized her as some sort of totally baked pothead who's unfit to be a parent (and, perhaps, the source of all of Dawn's screechy bitchiness in the second half of the series). I've never found this particular take on Sharon's character amusing, and I hate that it's become so old hat for the snarkers. I've always been more attracted to (and thus, give much more weight to) the early canon books, before the ghostwriters took over, and it's fairly clear to me that Sharon is more Mrs. Barrett than Anne Heche.

It's fairly obvious that she's frazzled with her hasty move back to Stoneybrook, and she's having a hard time getting her shit together. And who wouldn't? Divorce is pretty damn traumatic, much less a 3,000 mile cross-country move. But in the space of one book, she does exactly that - she settles into her new house, finds a job, and starts dating. That's remarkable speed, especially for a canon that barely stretches two years :P

I see Sharon as more of a dreamer, someone who easily gets lost in her thoughts - and whose thoughts are fleeting. She'll think about the smallest thing - like, for instance, the color of the Spiers' front door - and suddenly she's down the rabbit hole before she even realizes it. I think she's more spacey than stupid; combine that with a casual system of organization and you have the recipe for chaos :P

I think it's always hard to "go home" when you're an adult, especially after you've been living independently for a number of years. It's very difficult not to feel like a complete failure, running home to mommy with your tail between your legs. I'd imagine it feels even worse on the heels of a divorce, with two kids in tow :-/ Sharon is hurt, but she's doing her best to shield her kids from that - and I'd say she's doing a pretty good job of it, if Dawn's attitude is anything to go by =) Sharon must've been pretty shell-shocked when her daughter dropped the bomb about her high school sweetheart still being in town, and I can so easily picture her fading back into her memories, bidden or no.

I think it's obvious from this first meeting that these two are still very attracted to one another =) I wanted to capture that moment when an old love is rekindled, and how it can make even grownups feel weak and queasy inside. When Sharon realizes that Dawn's party is at Mary Anne's, she feels giddy and lightheaded and nervous over the idea of seeing 'Richie' again :P She absolutely allows Dawn to manipulate her in order to get her to the door, and then that moment - its breathtaking and magical and surreal, all at once. Sharon is transported back to her teen years, but hearing her daughter call him 'Mr. Spier' shakes that illusion somewhat. I really wanted to capture that sort of clash between the two worlds, as well as contrast how Sharon sees Richard, compared to how Dawn views him. Its one of those moments that, IDK, just sort of...flows from the pen =) Its definitely one of my favorite images I've ever conjured for a fic - reunion holds so many untapped possibilities ♥

The inspiration song for this piece is the song it was named after - Phil Collins' "Sussudio," one of my favorite "unrequited crush" songs (and, in fact, the theme for my KI OTP, which is where this came from ~ the residual effects of writing isabelquinn's fandom_stocking fic, LOL). The lyrics are so en pointe, especially the alternating duet style of the KI cover:

(R) There’s a girl that’s been on my mind all the time
(S) He don’t even know my name, but I think he likes me just the same
(R) If she calls me, I’ll be there
(S) I’d come running anywhere
(R) She’s all I need / all my life
(S) I’d feel so good if I just say the word

(R) I know that I’m too young, my life has just begun
(S) Give me a chance, give me a sign / I’ll show him anytime
(R) I’ve got to know her, know her now
(S) I’ve got to get closer, but I don’t know how
(R) She makes me nervous, she makes me scared
(S) But I’d feel so good if I just say the word

Adorable =) And here's the original version, for you purists out there =)