Bad actor

Seeing Trey go down, Ariel's eyes widen and she takes a step forward, unsure if he needed help. Noting that he appeared to be okay, she chokes on a laugh and covers her mouth. It didn't help much though as her eyes well up and the laughter bubbles over despite her efforts to keep it in.

Trying to breathe, she manages to speak in between her attempts to stop laughing. "Oh, Trey... are you... are you okay?" His complaint about the seaweed only serves to crack her up again. "I really wish I had a camera right about now."


"Uh..." Susanne knew Chuck was talking to her and she was sure that whatever he was saying was in English and she was supposed to understand. For a moment though, he could have been talking gibberish for all her brain knew.

Blinking again, she comes to her senses, her cheeks turning redder, if that was even possible. "Stay here," she responds quickly, her hand going to his leg to keep him there. "It won't be... as believable, if... if you move."

Turning her eyes back to the table, she realizes her hand is still on his leg and she withdraws quickly as if she'd been shocked. She clears her throat and goes for her glass of water, taking a sip while noting that Chuck's arm was still around her. If this whole thing weren't one big gag, she would stop and consider if she liked his arm there or not. But as it was, it just made the joke better so she didn't move away.

Toying with a napkin, she tries to at least look relaxed, even if she wasn't on the inside. A deep breath helps and she forces herself not to look over at the other table so as to appear oblivious that her friends were even here.

"And we have one pizza for two..." Carson delivers the pizza to the table personally, setting the tray down along with two plates and some extra napkins. He gives Susanne a curious glance along with a grin of amusement. "Do you two need anything else? I have some candles in the back if you-"

Susanne's hand flies to whack Carson's arm and he laughs. "Careful. You almost hit Chuck here."

Susanne smirks at him as she withdraws. "Go... clean dishes or something."

"Well that's a fine thanks for the dinner."

"Thank you, it looks delicious. Now go."

"Alright, alright." Carson throws up his hands in surrender and walks away.

Once he's gone, Susanne stares at the pizza, her hands fidgeting in her lap. "Um, Chuck... would you... would you be so kind as to say grace?" Pleased that he didn't mind praying, she bows her head. Listening to his soothing voice, and taking advantage of the quiet moment, Susanne's heart begins to slow and her mind grows more at ease. Adding a quiet "amen" at the end of the prayer, she opens her eyes to see the pizza again, and a little smile crosses her lips. Then a little chuckle comes and she shakes her head. This really was one of the craziest things she'd ever done, and it was so absurd that she was so nervous.

Lifting her eyes slightly, she catches sight of the nearby table, remembering the purpose of this whole thing. Maybe she felt some tingles when Chuck had kissed her, but in reality - this was all just a scam to make her friends think twice, right? While she was busy being scared, she needed to be having fun.

Giving Chuck a sidelong glance, she gains back a bit of the mischief that had been present that morning. Reaching for a slice of pizza, she takes a bite and chews it slowly as she smiles - it really was her favorite pizza in town and Carson always put on extra cheese.

Still chewing, she twists a little, holding up the same slice for Chuck to take a bite as well, knowing that this would be a nice touch for her friends. "Try it, darling, it's wonderful."


"Well who is he?"

"How should I know?"

"They were kissing, and she's never even mentioned him?"

"Look, look, they're sharing their pizza."

"Good gracious, are you sure it's Susanne?"

"She's all over him!"

"Or he's all over her."

"Shhh, not so loud."

Darlene steals another look to the nearby table but jumps when she feels a kick to her shin under the table. "What?!"

"Go find out," Bonnie hisses.

"I can't just-"

"Go! We gotta know who he is!"

Darlene smirks at her friend, then looks to the others who all seem to agree. Their whispered observations weren't getting them anywhere. "Oh, okay, fine. I'll go." Getting up from her chair, she points to Mark. "Don't eat my salad." Heading over to the other table, she approaches with some caution, cocking her head a little at Chuck and Susanne eating. "Susanne?"

Susanne looks up quickly, expertly faking total surprise. "Darlene! Hi!"

Darlene blinks, not returning the enthusiasm. "Well hi... I um... we... I mean..." She gives Chuck a good once-over, then looks back to Susanne. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Susanne furrows her brow. "What? Why?"

"Tonight? Our little get-together?" Darlene points to the other table.

Susanne follows her pointing and her eyes widen. "Oh my goodness, that's right. You were all going to eat here tonight, weren't you?"

"Uh... yeah." Darlene pauses, leaning in a little, her eyes asking for an explanation.

Susanne looks at her dumbly for a moment, then blinks. "Oh, I'm sorry. Darlene, this is Chuck, Chuck, this is my friend, Darlene."

Darlene smiles sweetly at Chuck. "Hi." She looks back to Susanne. "You never told me that you..."

Susanne takes another bite of pizza and offers Chuck another as well as if thinking nothing of it. "Yes?"

Darlene blinks several times and her cheeks flush. "Um... nothing. You two want to join us?"

"Nah..." Susanne grins and nuzzles in closer to Chuck. "We're good."

"Right."

Watching Darlene walk away, it takes all Susanne has not to burst out laughing. Biting her lip, she stares down at the pizza, trying not to choke as she holds it all in. Her eyes creep sideways to look at Chuck though and before she loses it completely, she buries her face in his shoulder, muffling her laughter. To anyone watching, it might look as though she were simply cuddling with him, when in reality, all she was doing was trying to hide how funny this whole thing really was.

"I'm a bad actor," she mumbles just loud enough for him to hear before laughing again.


Kip smiles a little and sighs, enjoying the feel of Karla running her fingers through his hair. Returning the light kiss, he looks up at her, his grin showing even more. "Snuggle time sounds great." As her hand moves through his hair, he runs a finger up and down her arm. "We could always order out pizza and claim the basement here for the evening. Gram and Gramps won't mind, and we'll have the couch and tv to ourselves down there."


Dylan can feel his stomach tighten just a little and he drops his gaze as he leans back in the chair, his shoulders slouching in defeat. "Dad won't believe me," he mumbles.

Quiet for several moments, he finally looks back up at Rosetta. "Even if you were there, it wouldn't make any difference. He'll still think I'm to blame for everything. I'm his drug addict son who will never earn back any respect. And the irony is that I didn't even want to be in that place."

He swallows hard then looks away again. He'd told Dan the truth - why couldn't he tell anyone else. Dan just seemed more... like he'd believe a story like that. The others, they were... more rigid... or something. Dylan's jaw muscles work out his tension and he hasn't a clue how much it looks like Mick.

"All my story sounds like is an excuse and Dad will take it that way. He'll just think I'm trying to put the blame on somebody else and not take responsibility for my actions. It's not about whether or not I'm comfortable talking to him... it's about him believing me, and having you there won't make him any more likely to believe than if you weren't." He pauses searching Rosetta's eyes again. "Unless you believe me first," he concludes. Did he really want to talk to her... to tell her the whole truth? It was beginning to look like that was the best option here - at least in his mind. "What if I tell you first? If you don't believe me, then we never had this conversation. If you do, I'll tell Dad, but you have to make sure he knows you believe me first."