Christopher/David slash. David and Christopher sleep together, and have to sort through the aftermath. With lots of denial. This is going to be a long, angsty story so everyone hold on for the ride! And no, I have nothing against Jalil. I just can't write him, damn it! It's like pulling teeth and chewing on them. Gives me a headache. (Not that I've ever pulled teeth and chewed on them, mind you, it just sounds painful) One of these days I'll write a Jalil-fic, I swear. The problem is that day is just not today.

Disclaimer: Oops. Tend to forget this. Everworld and all it's characters are not mine. 'Nuff said.

Duck K – Sorry, but I have to say no. I'm a kept woman. You understand. *wink*

Kay – This chappies for you. Next one's for EC, I promise!

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I slept with David Levin.

Like most other horrible mistakes of the same caliber, it involved alcohol. Lots of it. Still, I'm not sure exactly why it happened. It had a lot to do with the beer (and ale – was there ale?), yeah, I'll admit that. We were drunk. Were we *ever* drunk. That lovely, lovely kind of drunk where you feel like holding onto the floor once you've fallen. You know what I'm talking about. So. Right. Seriously drunk. Apparently way too drunk to really think about what we were doing. Because – let's face it- sleeping with David was NOT a good idea.

April, Jalil, David, and me were this matched set, right? All old worlders. We kept each other (fairly) sane. And David . . . David was my friend. So sleeping with him was a stupid decision in the same way that sleeping with April would have been a stupid decision. Sex with a friend isn't one of those things you can just pretend never happened. Or pretend it won't change things. Because things between David and I did change.

I don't remember that night very well. The dark tavern, ordering our drinks, the serving girl whose shirt front was cut so low I'm surprised she didn't fall out, the guy with one eye in the back corner. Then the house. Hazy flashes of lips and hands, me pulling off David's shirt, falling clumsily onto the bed. Seeing a scar on his back that may or may not have been there before. A husky laugh that I'd definitely never heard from him before but wouldn't mind hearing again. I'm sure you get the picture. Or at least you're getting pieces of the picture, and I really hope you can figure out what that picture is from the pieces. Whoa. That seemed too nursery rhyme. In a 'Peter picked a peck of whatever' kind of way.

Here I am, slowly returning to the land of the conscious, hindered by a hangover of epic proportions, and I notice nobody is lying on the bed beside me. So I'm thinking, here we go again with the weird dreams, but wait! David's by the door. By the door as in 'leaving'. And I'm thinking without the intention of returning, 'cause he looks at me with this god awful – you really have no idea how awful - combination of misery and regret. For like, ten seconds. I don't think I breathed. I know he thought I was still asleep. And then he left. He did leave. I could only assume we were never going to mention it again. Which was a real kick in the ass, since I was in love him.

Oh. Did I forget to mention that? Yeah, I love David. Go figure. Go fricken figure, right? He drives me insane, really he does. So serious and angsty and having to be the hero all the time. How sometimes he can take a joke and sometimes he can't. How he let Senna work her mojo on him for so long. How he can be such a complete, insensitive prick. Pretty much everything about him grates at me, but hey. Maybe that's just what I need. Someone who drives me up a fricken wall.

It's pretty much that moment that I realize exactly what my feelings for David were. I mean, I knew I was heading into the mushy gushy- type area, but love? Didn't get it until that moment. And believe me, a suckier moment I'd yet to see. We'd had sex, fallen asleep in the same bed, woken up in each other's arms... oh wait, no. That could have been a pretty good moment. And that's what really ticks me. The angst icing on the misery cake. I feel like I'm trapped in a soap opera, or Dawson's Creek or something. WTE, where your every viewing pleasure becomes a nightmare.

So David left. What was I really expecting? That he'd tell me he loved me? Eh, I'm a blonde, but I'm not that dumb. The so-called loves of my life have never panned out. Senna, the witch girl who decided I wasn't quite good enough to play beck to her call. That was hormones and pheromones with a side order of magic. Etain, who went off and married another guy (well, dwarf) just when things were actually starting to look up. Etain was like... an infatuation. A really bad crush. I mean, the woman was perfect. The perfect, beautiful elf maiden. I think I wanted her because that's what she seemed like to me. For once, I wanted something perfect. Lord knows nothing in my life ever was before. And then there's David. David who slept with me drunk and ran away the next morning.

I don't know what it is about him. The same things that make me want to kiss him make me want to kill him. Every time he makes a mistake I want to razz him but at the same time I want to tell him not to take everything so seriously. Stop worrying so much. Some things you just need to let go, you know? He worries too much. Gah. And now I'm mooning over him and analyzing his every move like a seventh grade girl with her first crush. Screw it. Bottom line? I love him. And I'm not a hearts and flowers kind of guy, so it goes down like this. I love him. I would die for him. I would go through hell for him, and considering I've seen it, that's a big deal.

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Back to David leaving. That's his backside – not thinking about his backside- as he goes out the door. And I do the only thing there is to do under the circumstances. Yup, you guessed it. Go downstairs and get coffee.

April's a wonder. Honestly. Totally, completely, seriously. Don't know what we'd do without her. She runs our house, if you wanna call it that. It's leaning more towards mansion size in my opinion but one really wants my opinion, despite me ramming it down their throats all the time. Athena set us up at this really cool place. Six bedrooms, three floors, and a bathroom that takes up five rooms all by itself. There's like four different bathes. Difficult, horribly unpronounceable names to go along with them too, as well as explanations. Jalil tried to tell me once but I blocked it all out. I'm saving my limited mental storage space for more important things. And yeah, back to April. She runs our house of insanity pretty well. David's status as General gets us whatever we want, not to mention Jalil's inventions are bringing in money up the wazoo. Not that we really need all that much. Hey, did you just *laugh*? I was being serious! Everworld has really taught me to appreciate the small stuff. Bed, food, and beer. Anything after that is like Christmas. Hanukah. Winter Solstice. Whatever floats your religious boat.

So, again, back to April. She runs the house, buys the food, makes sure David remembers to go outside now and then, checks to make sure Jalil hasn't electrocuted himself in his lab. Yells at me when I get drunk, reminds me that corners are not appropriate places to puke, and makes me coffee. Grinds it up herself. And Christ, does this stuff have zing. The Greeks haven't quite gotten around to worrying about caffeine yet, it hits your bloodstream like a two by four to the head. Stuff will put some serious hair on your chest. The woman is a goddess. (Demi- goddess?) April fits in well here and she takes care of us all. I love her. Like a sister. Just to be specific.

I amble down the stairs, not only hungover (very, very hungover) but depressed as well. Crushed. Angsting. In need of a serious caffeine rush.

"Coffee." April wordlessly hands me a cup. One hot mouthful. Two. Three. "Thank you." And do I ever mean those words from the bottom of my heart.

"No problem. You looked like you needed it."

Yes, yes, I needed to be fully awake to completely comprehend how badly I screwed things up between me and David. I sit down on the bench slowly. What was I supposed to be doing today? Oh right. Nothing. The usual.

"Really bad hangover or something?"

"Or something." Big something. Stupid mistake something. Drunken sex something. Stopping that train of thought something.

"Hmm." Great. Now April has that 'I-don't-know-what-is-going-on- around-here-but-I-am-going-to-find-out' face on. I hope she doesn't. Just what we need around here.

"Want anything to eat?"

"Nah." That 'I think a small animal used my mouth for a latrine' feeling doesn't make you want to eat much of anything.

"You sure? Nico went and got peaches this morning."

"Uh...." Nico is the servant/cook that helps April around the house. Technically he's a slave. One of a whole hell of a lot around here. April was totally horrified at first but considering Nico was a gift from Athena we couldn't exactly refuse. Insulting a goddess is NEVER a good idea. Learned that one the hard way. Oh, but peaches. . . one of those good- for-you foods that I actually like. . .

With a grin April sets one down in front of me. "Eat it. You need something in your stomach besides alcohol."

"Thank you Dr. O'Brien."

"You're welcome." To my everlasting embarrassment, she leans over and rumples my hair. I growl at her, basically the only thing I can do this early in the morning. She shall pay. Later.

"I'm going to Petra's. I'll be gone like all day, so if anyone comes looking for me, tell them I'm out, ok?"

"Mhmm." Social butterfly.

"And make sure you eat something else. Athena's coming over, so try not to walk around half-naked."

"Yeah. Might try to molest me again." God, was that ever an experience. Seems Athena can be quite the earthy goddess when she's in the right mood.

April laughs. "You know you liked it."

"Not really," I remark dryly. "Though it was certainly a wake up call."

"I'm sure. I'll see you later." I hear the door close shut as she leaves.

That was a nice little version of suburbia. The Cleavers meet Everworld. It's just... last night...

"David," I whisper, then look around guiltily, wondering if anyone heard that. But no. No one's around to hear. Jalil's in his workshop, reinventing whatever the hell it is this week, and David... he's not here at any rate. Probably in the War Room. His little hideyhole of maps and numbers and strategy.

Now I know what you're thinking. Seems like everyone around here has a purpose except me. And you'd be right. I'm still the Zeppo. The gopher, the oddball. The guy who somehow manages to live through everything despite having no apparent skill except humor. All hail Christopher the Useless.

April is our high class socialite. She entertains and boy can the girl smooze. She can literally ooze compliments when she wants to. Shines that thousand watt smile and gets most guys to agree to just about anything. Jalil is (obviously) the resident genius. Right now he's messing around with trying to invent guns and stuff. Not sure how well that's going. And David. David the General. David, the man who will defeat Ka Anor or the man who will fail all of Everworld. No pressure. That's why we'd been drinking, actually. He'd been strung so tight. . .

And stopping that train of thought *again*. So. What to do today? By now I've had a cup and a half of coffee, a peach, and most of the after affects of last night's alcohol binge is gone. Let's see. The Marketplace. Perfect. I can lose myself for days. But first... bath. Yeah. That's a definite.

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So? What did you think? Christopher seems a bit hyper-active, but I always saw him as a bit oddball so what the hey. Next chapter more angst, more drinking, and more denial. Funness.