The Right Man Chapter 1, a smash fanfic

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello all! I know that there aren't a lot of followers of my Smash stories in comparison to Firefly, but I love Smash and I love Tom Levitt/Kyle Bishop; it was devastating when they killed off his character (even if it did set a lot of things in motion between other characters that wouldn't have happened otherwise). There have been several "what-if" or "post-accident" stories on the night Kyle got hit by the car - this is my take. It will be multiple chapters, but I'm not sure how many in total. As with all fanfiction stories, we never claim rights to any of the plot, characters, etc...but I think some of us do a darn good job of exploring and expanding the worlds that the original authors created! Enjoy :)

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CHAPTER 1

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"I have to go talk to him." Kyle said to himself, still in shock over Jimmy's actions.

"No, you don't." Karen stated bluntly. "He'll just apologize and say all the right things, like he always does. And nothing will ever change."

"You're right..." He hated to admit it, but Karen's words rung true against all the times Jimmy had screwed up and hurt him.

"God, I should just cut him off, you know?" He shook his head, feeling so lost, but he knew he had to put a stop to Jimmy's behavior once and for all.

"Do you think you can do that?" Ana looked at him with concern, not expecting to hear the stubborn resolve in his voice.

Kyle nodded and sighed. "I'll do it tomorrow, when he's sober and when I've had a chance to calm down."

"No, you don't wait until tomorrow." Karen interrupted. "If you wait until then, you'll lose your courage.

Do it now." She urged Kyle.

He sighs but nodded his head in agreement. He had to go find Jimmy tonight, and finish this. "Thank you, Karen...you're right." He said sincerely, understanding that Jimmy's words had hurt her as much as they had him. With this in mind he turned and rushed out of the bar.

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Jimmy had long since disappeared, so Kyle made his way back to their apartment, trying to think of the places he might try to use to hide out. But he knew deep down inside the one place he'd find Jimmy after seeing him implode like this...and the thought destroyed him. He began to stuff Kyle's possessions into duffel, pausing briefly to look at the picture of them together before stuffing it into the bag as well, and silently headed out.

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Tom walked into his apartment after the disastrous Q&A session. Julia...so many things were falling apart, but he'd never thought that his relationship with Julia would ever be one of them. As he walked into the hallway, Tom noticed the door to the study left open and found himself drawn in, standing in the dark, empty space, devoid of any evidence that Julia had ever been living there.

Their partnership was rapidly dissolving much like her marriage to Frank, but this time...this time he was the one in this crazy mess, and Tom resolved himself to making it as clean a break as he could. If Julia wanted to do Gatsby as a play, there was no room for him, and there would be only one way for her to get what she wanted. All their work...he stared at the idea board on the wall. He'd call the lawyers in the morning. But tonight...

Tom looked down at his phone. Kyle had promised to come over after the show...

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Kyle knocked on Adam's door, leaving the bag leaning up against the surface and walking away before the door opened. From a distance he could hear voices and he walked faster, even though he was already out of sight. He couldn't think straight. The bag was his only way of communicating with Jimmy just how much he had hurt him and everyone else around him with his actions.

God...Kyle felt so lost. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with the urge to sit down before his whole world collapsed under his feet, and he ducked into an alleyway, sitting up against a dirty brick wall. Head in hands, he sighed, trying not to cry. There he sat in silence until he realized his phone was ringing.

Looking down at his phone, the number makes his eyes well up. He had screwed up everything with Blake, but...something still drew him to Tom, even beyond his initial starstruck feelings, and he didn't know why. His trembling fingers hit 'accept', and Tom's voice rang out into the small alleyway.

"Kyle. I was just wondering if you were still free this evening..." he could hear Tom take a deep breath before continuing "...maybe come over for a drink? You don't have to say yes, it's fine if you're not interested in drinks, or me..."

Kyle choked up at the sound of his voice, unable to say anything.

"...Hello? Kyle? Are you...are you okay? It sounds like you're crying. Is something wrong?" Tom's eyebrows creased as he hears no response, only hitched breath and the occasional sniffle.

Kyle reached a hand up to his face, and sure enough he can feel tears dripping down. He cleared his throat loudly trying to gather the courage to speak.

"Sorry, I just...Jimmy..." his voice broke.

"What's wrong? Did something happen tonight with Hit List?" Tom frowned. He knew Jimmy to be a bit of a hot head. Jimmy reminded him of a young Derek in that way, impulsive, stubborn, and sharp-tongued. It wouldn't surprise him if something happened between the two young collaborators.

"He showed up high...almost wrecked the performance, hurt Karen...we had to fire him, but then he...why did he say those things?" Kyle sobbed out brokenly.

Tom paused, trying to digest everything he'd just heard.

"Oh God...is Karen okay? Are you hurt?"

Kyle sniffed. "Karen's okay, it's just a bruised arm, but I had to end things, I just couldn't...I couldn't face him. Not after what he did."

"Where are you? Are you at your apartment?"

"No...I just left Jimmy's things at his brother's place...it's in the west side." Kyle explained softly.

"Do you want me to come get you? Give me the address, I'll get a cab."

"No, I'm not...I left the bag and walked away...I don't know where I am..." he sniffled again.

"Can you look around and give me a building or a street corner? You can just stay put, I'll come to you." Tom said, his voice gentle but tight with concern.

Kyle looked around, and saw a tall building a couple blocks away with a large logo in red and white lights. "Can we meet at the Ronald Heights building? I can see it from here, I'll just walk over then sit and wait for you there."

"Yes, yes of course. I'm heading out right now...it'll be a few minutes, but just hang in there. Call me if anything else happens." Tom said hurriedly as he ran to grab his keys and jacket.

"...okay. Tom?" Kyle had finally stopped crying, Tom's steady presence over the phone reassuring despite everything that had just happened.

A pause. "Yeah?"

"Thanks...I'll see you in a few."

"No problem. I'll see you soon." Kyle heard Tom hang up, and lowers his hand.

He sat there numb and unable to think, before he realized that he should probably start walking to meet Tom. Looking at his phone, he noticed quite a bit of time has passed.

Kyle picked himself up off the grimy alley road and headed towards the building in the distance.

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Tom looked out at the darkened scenery, buildings turning from city to slums. He frowned, worried about Kyle. He didn't know the entire story, but for Jimmy to show up high to a performance and injure another cast member in the process was unthinkable. He couldn't imagine what Jimmy's actions had done to Kyle. The few nights they'd spent together, he had gotten a strong impression from Kyle that he seemed to deeply care about his partner, despite all the trouble he seemed to get himself into.

Finally the cab pulled up kitty-corner across the street from the complex, but Kyle was nowhere in sight. Telling the driver to wait, he got out, looking for any sign of the young man.

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Kyle felt like his whole mind and body was drifting aimlessly down the road. All the events that happened in the past week whirled in his head, and he walked without noticing his surroundings.

Tom, who'd decided to stand by the cab and wait, spotted Kyle on the other side of the street getting ready to cross to the building block.

"Kyle?"

He called out Kyle's name, but he doesn't seem to hear him, hunched over with hands in his pockets, not seeing, not looking...

As Tom began to cross the street towards Kyle, he saw the car coming at a fast speed, intent on blowing through the stop sign but not noticing Kyle about to cross...

"Kyle!"