Sweet Valley Sophomores | 8: Rendezvous

[luxken27]

Title: Rendezvous
Fandom: Sweet Valley High
Universe: Pre-canon (sophomore year)
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,471
Summary: “You really know how to treat a girl, you know that, Bruce?” Lila shuddered. “Remind me to never do you a favor again.”

Links: DW | FF.net | AO3

Written for the “touch” prompt on my 2016 Summer Mini Challenge table.

Because I couldn't resist more Bruce/Lila fic - and because one idea spawned another, and then another...

I have a fascination with the super-rich. They live in a completely different universe from the rest of us peons, and it's a little hard to wrap your head around, if you think about it too much. What is life like when you're independently wealthy, when money is never an object, and is in fact almost oppressive? Folks can be really disdainful of "poor little rich people" and their first-world problems, but insane wealth is its own burden. It's one of the reasons why I've really grown to like characters like Bruce and Lila as I've gotten older - I guess knowing how mundane adult existence can be gives me a yen towards a new fantasy - financial security.

Financial security can definitely take simple things - like vacations - up a notch. There are fewer more exclusive places in the world than Monaco. It has a fascinating history IMO, if only because of the way the principality was set up to cater to the incredibly rich. It is the perfect playground for characters like Bruce and Lila, who move so easily not only among their SVH classmates, but among their own elite social class.

The story opens with Bruce admiring the view from a helicopter. Fun fact, but there is no airport in Monaco. If you're coming in by air, it's helicopter all the way - how's that for arriving in style? =) I definitely feel like the Patmans would consider traveling by car or rail to be beneath them, even if they were just basically crossing the border from Italy. They strike me as the types who are more than happy to flaunt their wealth, and the fact that it is Old Money. (Interestingly enough, it's mostly through the maternal line, if you buy the backstory provided by the Patman saga, at least).

Anyway - I studied a bunch of overhead view pictures of Monaco for the descriptions. It really is gorgeous, especially with the contrast of the Mediterranean Sea. Of course, while Bruce is in awe of the sights, his father has his nose buried in paperwork for his meetings, the entire reason why they are there. Canon tells us Henry Patman is pretty jovial, but I can totally see him being a workaholic.

Bruce is along not because he wants to attend meetings, but because he wants to nurse his wounded pride. He's gotten zero action on the Italian Riviera and his ego is not taking that too well, LOL. He is among the super-rich, so he's at a disadvantage on this particular meat market. The women he wants to attract are the heiresses and trust fund babies - but the only ones who will give him the time of day are the golddiggers. He's seventeen years old, but already can spot them from a mile away. I don't think this is unrealistic at all - when you move in these kinds of circles, its the hangers-on who can spell the most trouble. Bruce likes to flaunt his wealth in canon, but in Sweet Valley he's at the top of the heap. Not so much in the wealthiest little country in Europe!

Since Bruce has decided to tag along, his father sends him out in search of a present for his mother (I can't imagine Marie likes these "working holidays" and never being able to actually spend time with her husband - especially if you buy the backstory in the Patmans saga, LOL). Bruce isn't exactly looking forward to it, because as a typically clueless guy he has no idea what to get her, but it gives him something to do.

He runs into Lila while in the shopping district of Monte Carlo. I can't decide if he *really* forgets that Lila tells him about her end-of-summer vacation or not. Considering the way that particular conversation ended, I can understand why he wanted to put it out of his mind, but at the same time I like to think that their attraction keeps them subconsciously aware of each other, if that makes any sense.

Bruce's attraction to Lila is definitely mostly physical. He thinks she's hot and he wants to have sex with her. Considering early canon/pre-Regina Bruce, this is about par for the course for him. The fact that they get along is basically a bonus. They appreciate each other, and they enjoy flirting with each other, and Bruce is a little concerned that he's still a bit hung up on her, considering his focus is on conquests instead of relationships at this point. Striking out not only with the heiresses of the world, but also with Lila herself, is a particularly sore point. In a way, he approaches her out of revenge for the way their last encounter ended.

They meet up, exchange a few flirtatious barbs, and Bruce cons Lila into helping him find his mother's gift. He challenges her, actually, and she can't resist a challenge. After calling him a pompous ass in French (and him retorting that that's why she likes him, heh), she rises to the occasion. She also takes it up a notch, too, inventing this entire backstory on the fly for the French couple they are pretending to be. Since the idea of two teenagers buying engagement jewelry is just the sort of thing that totally flies in the Sweet Valley universe, LOL, I just ran with it.

What I wanted to accomplish with this fic was to shift Bruce's basis of attraction to Lila from the physical to the emotional - for something deeper than mere sexual chemistry to tie them together. The first moment that actually happens is in the jewelry store. Bruce is all caught up in their pretend relationship, and he sees Lila in a whole new light when she puts on the necklace. The lines between fantasy and reality start to blur a little, and he starts complimenting her for real, while still in the guise of his character. It's one of those all-elusive Moments, and I, personally, really liked how it turned out :)

This is mirrored in their other shared moment, at the end of the story, when Bruce gives Lila the sapphire pendant he picked out for her as a surprise. They are totally themselves again, no longer playing pretend for the benefit of a store clerk, and they both give in to their attraction pretty easily. Their mutual regard for each other has deepened without either of them consciously realizing it, but they feel it all the same, and share a dreamy Moment in the back of the car on the way back to the heliport.

Some of that Regina-era Bruce sweetness and consideration had to already be inside him, just waiting to be unlocked. I firmly believe that, even if pre-Regina Bruce showed no signs of it. There's no way that he just underwent a total personality change upon meeting her - it's more like she just brought different shades of his character to the surface, not that he developed them out of whole cloth upon laying eyes on her.

And if he had those characteristics before Regina, I think someone else who shared a lot of similarities with Regina could unlock them as well. Bruce can be himself around Lila because none of the stuff that usually impresses girls will impress her. They have a lot of things in common, not the least of which are workaholic fathers. They can relate on a deeper level than mere attraction, and here, they do. The fact that they are not in Sweet Valley helps immensely - they can truly be themselves when they are surrounded by strangers.

This will, of course, have consequences once they return to the Valley, but for now, they have this amazing connection. I wanted this story to end with Bruce acting more like a boyfriend than a guy trying to get into Lila's pants, just to prove to himself that he could. When they are themselves, isolated from everything that gets in their way (their family feud, their reputations among classmates), they connect in a very deep way.

It's probably pretty obvious that I re-read the beginning of Bruce and Lila's relationship in SVU while working on this fic, and I couldn't resist name-dropping Italian count Tisiano de Mondicci, considering the setting :P

This fic marks the third entry in a new series - "15-Love," which is the continuation of this Bruce/Lila-centric universe through the beginning of classic SVH canon. I didn't really feel right about putting the rest of these fics in the SVS collection, because technically nobody is anywhere *near* sophomore year anymore. Plus, I had the chance to make a new banner - win-win! =)


My current plans for my SMC table are to continue exploring this bit of headcanon-meets-actual-canon, mostly because I can't resist the idea of these two carrying on a super secret relationship behind everyone's backs, considering everything that happens in early SVH canon that involves these two. Oh, this is going to be fun! =)