FIC: Backstage (LOST) (2/6)
Mar. 15th, 2006 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fandomfrom3[mood| 
tired]
[music| Fiesta - The Pogues]
Title: Backstage (2/6)
Authors:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chicafrom3 and riviyan_questa
Rating: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit
Disclaimer: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www.driveshaftband.com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap’s family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.
Summary: The story of a British rocker, an Australian girl, drugs, and a baby. The untold story of Karen and Liam Pace.
Note: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU. Apologies for the delay in updating; blame my schedule.
(Chapter One)
CHAPTER TWO
Two weeks later, Karen woke up, in the hotel in Melbourne. She went into the bathroom. She noticed as she was getting dressed, that she still hadn’t gotten her period. It was over a week late.
The first thought that fluttered through her mind was that she was pregnant. She tried to dismiss that thought, but it kept nagging at the back of her mind. She decided to go for a walk, and let herself out without waking up Liam.
The day was chilly, and despite that, the streets were pretty busy. She breathed in the air and tried to enjoy the walk, but she couldn’t put out of her mind the fact that she had missed her period.
‘Okay, fine. There’s a chemist’s down the street a little way. I’ll get a test, just so I can know for sure,’ Karen told herself, and quickened her pace, now that she had a destination.
She went in, and looked around for the pregnancy tests. She’d never really had reason to look for one before. She found them and picked one up.
She paid for it and walked back to the hotel. Karen locked herself in the suite’s bathroom and took the white plastic test out of the box, along with the instructions.
“Okay, peeing on a stick. I can do that,” Karen said to herself, quietly. She calmed herself down and did the test. Then came the waiting. She looked back at the instructions. Two blue lines means it’s positive.
Karen took deep breaths and tried not to panic while waiting. The time passed like an eternity, but it finally gave the results.
Two little blue lines.
Zap was headed down the hotel corridor back to his room to pick up some equipment to set up for tonight’s show when Karen came hurrying along in the opposite direction, head down, face streaked with tears.
“Karen?” he said, alarmed. “What’s wrong, luv?”
“I—I—I—” She raised her head, looked at him, and burst into tears.
He leapt forward, wrapped his arms around her, and waited.
“I’m pregnant,” she sobbed out finally.
Zap froze. Then he forced himself to swallow and said, “Does Liam know yet?”
She paled and shook her head.
“When are you going to tell him? How are you going to tell him? I—”
“I don’t know!” she wailed.
At a loss, he hugged her again and said, “Don’t worry, luv, we’ll work all this out. It’ll be all right. I promise.”
Karen just cried.
Liam moved easily through the crowd backstage, smiling and nodding at all the people who wanted to congratulate him on another great show.
He found Karen hanging back away from the bulk of people. He frowned, grabbed a couple drinks, and headed over to her. Gave her a kiss and shoved one of the glasses in her hand.
She shook her head and pushed it back into his hand.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, bewildered. She wasn’t usually the type to turn down a drink or a hit.
She said something but he couldn’t make it out over the general din of people talking.
“What?” He motioned for her to speak up.
She blinked a couple times, eyes suspiciously glassy, then shouted at him, “Let’s get out of here! I need to tell you something!”
He scowled. The post-show party was just getting started. The idea of leaving didn’t really appeal to him. “Can it wait? I’ve got people to talk to, luv, and—”
“No, I really think you need to hear this!” she shouted.
Another frown. But, oh, screw it, they could come back to the party afterwards, and when she wasn’t happy, bad things tended to happen. So he nodded and grabbed her hand and they pushed their way through the crowd. Charlie nodded at them briefly as they passed, eyes glazed over, but Liam ignored him and pushed Karen into the dressing room, empty for the moment. He closed the door behind them, shutting out most of the clamor.
“So?” he asked. “What is it?”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, sat down on the couch, and said in almost a whisper, “I’m pregnant.”
The glass dropped out of Liam’s hand and shattered on the floor. He stared at her, uncomprehending. “You’re what?”
“I’m pregnant, and you’re not really making me feel any better, Liam!” She sounded on the verge of tears.
“I just—” His mouth worked. “How can you be pregnant?”
Karen shot him a dirty look. “You see, Liam, when a man and a woman love each other very much—”
“Stop it.” He sat down. “I—you’re pregnant?”
“Yes!”
“I—” He shook his head. “I need some air,” he said, got up, and walked out.
Karen remained where she was, struggling not to cry.
“She’s pregnant!” Liam ranted. “How can she be pregnant? We were careful!”
“Were you?” Zap asked skeptically.
“The point is she wasn’t supposed to get pregnant! What am I going to do, Ju?” He collapsed on the couch.
“You’re going to do the right thing,” Zap snapped. “She is pregnant and you’re going to be a man about this.”
Liam ignored this. “How much d’you think it’d cost to send her back to Sydney? I’m sure her mother could—”
“Liam!”
The rocker looked at him.
“You are not going to ditch Karen now that she’s pregnant! It’s your responsibility and you’re not going to shrug it off onto someone else!” Zap couldn’t believe Liam was even thinking about this.
“I can’t be a father, Zap!”
“Well, you’re going to have to be,” Zap shouted back, stood up, and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him.
Karen went back to the hotel room. She was tired, but didn’t feel like going to bed. Instead, she curled up on the couch, knees pulled up against her chest. She had no idea what she was going to do. Liam obviously wasn’t happy.
So Karen did the only thing she could think of. She called her mother.
The phone rang twice, three times.
“Hello?” the familiar voice said.
“Hi Mum,” Karen said.
“Karen! I was wondering if you were ever going to call.” There was no emotion in the voice.
“Mum. I, uh. Um. I’m pregnant.” Karen wondered how many times she would have to say that one sentence before completely destroying her life.
“Karen…” Her mother sighed. “What do you expect me to do? You ran off with some rock star, don’t call me at all, and now you’re calling because you’ve got a problem? If you’re old enough to get yourself into this situation, you’re old enough to deal with it.”
“Mum…”
“I’m sorry Karen. But if you don’t even think enough of me to tell me that you were leaving, then you expect who-knows-what from me now, well, you’re just going to have to fix this yourself.”
“Okay. Um. Bye, Mum.” Karen didn’t wait for her mum to say anything before she hung up the phone. She fought back tears, she still had one more call to make.
She picked up the receiver and dialed Rachel’s number. There was no answer and the machine picked up.
“Hi, this is Rachel. If I’m not here, I’m probably at work. Leave a message and calls will be returned if I feel like it.” The machine beeped.
Karen couldn’t quite think of what to say, and almost hung up, but she didn’t. Instead she said, “Hey, Rachel, this is Karen. I know you probably hate me right about now, and I assume Mum told you where I am. Anyway, I thought it only fair to let you know that I’m pregnant,” that makes four times, Karen thought, “and I have no idea what I’m going to do. I guess I’ll see you if I see you. Bye.” Karen hung up the phone. She could hear someone coming down the hall, and so she got up, and locked herself in the bathroom. Whoever was out there likely wasn’t Liam, it was way too early for him to be back, but in the case it was, Karen didn’t want to talk to him right now.
She sat on the counter by the sink, her back to the mirror. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
Liam took a deep breath and pushed the door open. He couldn’t see Karen and it was quiet. “Karen? Are you in here?” he called.
“Where else would I go?” she called from the bathroom.
Liam walked across the room to the closed bathroom door. “Karen? Come out, please.”
There was silence. Then, the lock clicked and the door opened. Karen come out, her eyes red and puffy from crying. “I talked to my mum.”
“And?” Liam asked. After all, it wouldn’t be his fault if Karen wanted to leave.
“Yeah, she pretty much told me not to come back.” Karen wiped her cheek with her hand. Her face scrunched up and she started crying again. “What am I supposed to do?”
Liam pulled her into a hug. “I don’t know.”
Karen cried into his shirt for a bit and then pulled back. “I’m going to get some water, or something.” Liam let her go and watched as she left the room.
He kind of panicked. There was no way he could ditch her now, after what Zap had said to him, and now knowing that she didn’t really have a home to go back to, but he didn’t know what he could do.
So Liam did the only thing he could think of. He called his mother.
As could be expected, she yelled at him for a bit. Then, and this being the reason Liam thought to call her in the first place, she helped.
“What are you going to go?” she asked.
“That’s why I called, Mum. I don’t know.”
“Okay, Liam, let’s start at the beginning. You have to do something about this. You can’t leave her on her own with a baby. You’re leaving the country in a month. You can’t stay there.”
“Right.”
“And she doesn’t have anywhere to go, right?”
“Right.”
“So she has to come back with you.” Mrs. Pace said simply.
Liam let this sink in. It made sense. Except for one thing.
“But I’m not ready to be a father!” Liam protested.
“You should have thought about that, then, shouldn’t you?” It was obvious that his mother was not going to let this go.
Liam was silent.
“Oh, and I’m looking forward to meeting this girl. See you soon,” Mrs. Pace added.
“Night.” Liam hung up the phone.
Liam leaned back and sighed. How was he supposed to tell Karen this?
He was really working himself into a funk when the door opened and Karen came back in. She had a paper bag in her hand.
“What’s in the bag?” Liam looked up.
“Fudge brownie ice cream. I deserve it.” Karen put the bag down on the table and disappeared into the bedroom. She came out a few minutes later in a pair of sweats and a tank top. She sat down with the ice cream and started eating it right out of the carton.
“So. Karen,” Liam started.
Karen looked up from her ice cream. “Yeah?”
“I was thinking, since I’m going home in a month, and I can’t just leave you here with the baby, um, that you would come back to England with me?” Liam blurted out.
Karen looked surprised. “You’re actually going to take responsibility for this? I kind of expected to be on the first plane to Sydney tomorrow.”
Liam felt somewhat guilty, that having been his first plan. “Well, I, um-”
“I’ll think about it. Last time I agreed to go with you, well, look where I am now!” She dug her spoon angrily into the ice cream. “Just… I’ll think about it. I don’t exactly have any other options right now.”
She ate some more of the ice cream in silence before putting the lid back on. “I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day.” Karen got up and went into the bedroom, closing the door most of the way. Liam heard the light flick off.
“Another generation of Paces.” Sinjin clutched at his chest dramatically. “I don’t think I can stand it.”
Pat poked him in the side. “This is serious, Sinjin.”
“Who isn’t being serious?”
“Lord, Liam,” Charlie said. “What are you going to do?”
“I invited her to come back to England with us,” Liam muttered.
His brother gave him a look that plainly asked whether he was an idiot. “Well, obviously.”
“Yeah,” Sinjin agreed. “What, were you going to leave her in Australia?” He laughed.
Liam kept his mouth shut.
“No, come on, she’ll love England,” Pat predicted confidently. “She’ll have a blast. And Melissa will be around to help out, she loves kids—”
A groan went up at the mention of Pat’s girlfriend, and Charlie grabbed the couch pillow to hit the drummer playfully.
“Wait,” Sinjin interrupted abruptly. “You said you invited her. Is she coming or isn’t she?”
Liam grimaced. “Dunno, she said she’d have to think about it.”
“What’s to think about?!” Charlie demanded.
He shrugged.
“And all the new colors,” Sinjin sang, “And pictures you’ve designed/Oh, yes, sweet darlin’/So glad you are a chi-ild of mine/Child of mine, chi-ild of mine…”
Liam wrestled the pillow away from his brother and hit Sinjin.
“I’ll go,” Karen announced abruptly, stomping into the hotel room and sitting next to Liam on the couch.
He blinked, weirdly disconcerted. “Oh. Uhm. Good?”
“Because,” she continued, “It’s not like I exactly have any other options. And I can’t handle this on my own. And you’re at least as responsible for this situation as I am. So I’ll go with you to England.”
Liam nodded, feeling overwhelmed. He shifted his weight on the couch. “Right. Okay.”
tired][music| Fiesta - The Pogues]
Title: Backstage (2/6)
Authors:
chicafrom3 and riviyan_questaRating: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit
Disclaimer: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www.driveshaftband.com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap’s family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.
Summary: The story of a British rocker, an Australian girl, drugs, and a baby. The untold story of Karen and Liam Pace.
Note: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU. Apologies for the delay in updating; blame my schedule.
(Chapter One)
CHAPTER TWO
Two weeks later, Karen woke up, in the hotel in Melbourne. She went into the bathroom. She noticed as she was getting dressed, that she still hadn’t gotten her period. It was over a week late.
The first thought that fluttered through her mind was that she was pregnant. She tried to dismiss that thought, but it kept nagging at the back of her mind. She decided to go for a walk, and let herself out without waking up Liam.
The day was chilly, and despite that, the streets were pretty busy. She breathed in the air and tried to enjoy the walk, but she couldn’t put out of her mind the fact that she had missed her period.
‘Okay, fine. There’s a chemist’s down the street a little way. I’ll get a test, just so I can know for sure,’ Karen told herself, and quickened her pace, now that she had a destination.
She went in, and looked around for the pregnancy tests. She’d never really had reason to look for one before. She found them and picked one up.
She paid for it and walked back to the hotel. Karen locked herself in the suite’s bathroom and took the white plastic test out of the box, along with the instructions.
“Okay, peeing on a stick. I can do that,” Karen said to herself, quietly. She calmed herself down and did the test. Then came the waiting. She looked back at the instructions. Two blue lines means it’s positive.
Karen took deep breaths and tried not to panic while waiting. The time passed like an eternity, but it finally gave the results.
Two little blue lines.
Zap was headed down the hotel corridor back to his room to pick up some equipment to set up for tonight’s show when Karen came hurrying along in the opposite direction, head down, face streaked with tears.
“Karen?” he said, alarmed. “What’s wrong, luv?”
“I—I—I—” She raised her head, looked at him, and burst into tears.
He leapt forward, wrapped his arms around her, and waited.
“I’m pregnant,” she sobbed out finally.
Zap froze. Then he forced himself to swallow and said, “Does Liam know yet?”
She paled and shook her head.
“When are you going to tell him? How are you going to tell him? I—”
“I don’t know!” she wailed.
At a loss, he hugged her again and said, “Don’t worry, luv, we’ll work all this out. It’ll be all right. I promise.”
Karen just cried.
Liam moved easily through the crowd backstage, smiling and nodding at all the people who wanted to congratulate him on another great show.
He found Karen hanging back away from the bulk of people. He frowned, grabbed a couple drinks, and headed over to her. Gave her a kiss and shoved one of the glasses in her hand.
She shook her head and pushed it back into his hand.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, bewildered. She wasn’t usually the type to turn down a drink or a hit.
She said something but he couldn’t make it out over the general din of people talking.
“What?” He motioned for her to speak up.
She blinked a couple times, eyes suspiciously glassy, then shouted at him, “Let’s get out of here! I need to tell you something!”
He scowled. The post-show party was just getting started. The idea of leaving didn’t really appeal to him. “Can it wait? I’ve got people to talk to, luv, and—”
“No, I really think you need to hear this!” she shouted.
Another frown. But, oh, screw it, they could come back to the party afterwards, and when she wasn’t happy, bad things tended to happen. So he nodded and grabbed her hand and they pushed their way through the crowd. Charlie nodded at them briefly as they passed, eyes glazed over, but Liam ignored him and pushed Karen into the dressing room, empty for the moment. He closed the door behind them, shutting out most of the clamor.
“So?” he asked. “What is it?”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, sat down on the couch, and said in almost a whisper, “I’m pregnant.”
The glass dropped out of Liam’s hand and shattered on the floor. He stared at her, uncomprehending. “You’re what?”
“I’m pregnant, and you’re not really making me feel any better, Liam!” She sounded on the verge of tears.
“I just—” His mouth worked. “How can you be pregnant?”
Karen shot him a dirty look. “You see, Liam, when a man and a woman love each other very much—”
“Stop it.” He sat down. “I—you’re pregnant?”
“Yes!”
“I—” He shook his head. “I need some air,” he said, got up, and walked out.
Karen remained where she was, struggling not to cry.
“She’s pregnant!” Liam ranted. “How can she be pregnant? We were careful!”
“Were you?” Zap asked skeptically.
“The point is she wasn’t supposed to get pregnant! What am I going to do, Ju?” He collapsed on the couch.
“You’re going to do the right thing,” Zap snapped. “She is pregnant and you’re going to be a man about this.”
Liam ignored this. “How much d’you think it’d cost to send her back to Sydney? I’m sure her mother could—”
“Liam!”
The rocker looked at him.
“You are not going to ditch Karen now that she’s pregnant! It’s your responsibility and you’re not going to shrug it off onto someone else!” Zap couldn’t believe Liam was even thinking about this.
“I can’t be a father, Zap!”
“Well, you’re going to have to be,” Zap shouted back, stood up, and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him.
Karen went back to the hotel room. She was tired, but didn’t feel like going to bed. Instead, she curled up on the couch, knees pulled up against her chest. She had no idea what she was going to do. Liam obviously wasn’t happy.
So Karen did the only thing she could think of. She called her mother.
The phone rang twice, three times.
“Hello?” the familiar voice said.
“Hi Mum,” Karen said.
“Karen! I was wondering if you were ever going to call.” There was no emotion in the voice.
“Mum. I, uh. Um. I’m pregnant.” Karen wondered how many times she would have to say that one sentence before completely destroying her life.
“Karen…” Her mother sighed. “What do you expect me to do? You ran off with some rock star, don’t call me at all, and now you’re calling because you’ve got a problem? If you’re old enough to get yourself into this situation, you’re old enough to deal with it.”
“Mum…”
“I’m sorry Karen. But if you don’t even think enough of me to tell me that you were leaving, then you expect who-knows-what from me now, well, you’re just going to have to fix this yourself.”
“Okay. Um. Bye, Mum.” Karen didn’t wait for her mum to say anything before she hung up the phone. She fought back tears, she still had one more call to make.
She picked up the receiver and dialed Rachel’s number. There was no answer and the machine picked up.
“Hi, this is Rachel. If I’m not here, I’m probably at work. Leave a message and calls will be returned if I feel like it.” The machine beeped.
Karen couldn’t quite think of what to say, and almost hung up, but she didn’t. Instead she said, “Hey, Rachel, this is Karen. I know you probably hate me right about now, and I assume Mum told you where I am. Anyway, I thought it only fair to let you know that I’m pregnant,” that makes four times, Karen thought, “and I have no idea what I’m going to do. I guess I’ll see you if I see you. Bye.” Karen hung up the phone. She could hear someone coming down the hall, and so she got up, and locked herself in the bathroom. Whoever was out there likely wasn’t Liam, it was way too early for him to be back, but in the case it was, Karen didn’t want to talk to him right now.
She sat on the counter by the sink, her back to the mirror. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
Liam took a deep breath and pushed the door open. He couldn’t see Karen and it was quiet. “Karen? Are you in here?” he called.
“Where else would I go?” she called from the bathroom.
Liam walked across the room to the closed bathroom door. “Karen? Come out, please.”
There was silence. Then, the lock clicked and the door opened. Karen come out, her eyes red and puffy from crying. “I talked to my mum.”
“And?” Liam asked. After all, it wouldn’t be his fault if Karen wanted to leave.
“Yeah, she pretty much told me not to come back.” Karen wiped her cheek with her hand. Her face scrunched up and she started crying again. “What am I supposed to do?”
Liam pulled her into a hug. “I don’t know.”
Karen cried into his shirt for a bit and then pulled back. “I’m going to get some water, or something.” Liam let her go and watched as she left the room.
He kind of panicked. There was no way he could ditch her now, after what Zap had said to him, and now knowing that she didn’t really have a home to go back to, but he didn’t know what he could do.
So Liam did the only thing he could think of. He called his mother.
As could be expected, she yelled at him for a bit. Then, and this being the reason Liam thought to call her in the first place, she helped.
“What are you going to go?” she asked.
“That’s why I called, Mum. I don’t know.”
“Okay, Liam, let’s start at the beginning. You have to do something about this. You can’t leave her on her own with a baby. You’re leaving the country in a month. You can’t stay there.”
“Right.”
“And she doesn’t have anywhere to go, right?”
“Right.”
“So she has to come back with you.” Mrs. Pace said simply.
Liam let this sink in. It made sense. Except for one thing.
“But I’m not ready to be a father!” Liam protested.
“You should have thought about that, then, shouldn’t you?” It was obvious that his mother was not going to let this go.
Liam was silent.
“Oh, and I’m looking forward to meeting this girl. See you soon,” Mrs. Pace added.
“Night.” Liam hung up the phone.
Liam leaned back and sighed. How was he supposed to tell Karen this?
He was really working himself into a funk when the door opened and Karen came back in. She had a paper bag in her hand.
“What’s in the bag?” Liam looked up.
“Fudge brownie ice cream. I deserve it.” Karen put the bag down on the table and disappeared into the bedroom. She came out a few minutes later in a pair of sweats and a tank top. She sat down with the ice cream and started eating it right out of the carton.
“So. Karen,” Liam started.
Karen looked up from her ice cream. “Yeah?”
“I was thinking, since I’m going home in a month, and I can’t just leave you here with the baby, um, that you would come back to England with me?” Liam blurted out.
Karen looked surprised. “You’re actually going to take responsibility for this? I kind of expected to be on the first plane to Sydney tomorrow.”
Liam felt somewhat guilty, that having been his first plan. “Well, I, um-”
“I’ll think about it. Last time I agreed to go with you, well, look where I am now!” She dug her spoon angrily into the ice cream. “Just… I’ll think about it. I don’t exactly have any other options right now.”
She ate some more of the ice cream in silence before putting the lid back on. “I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day.” Karen got up and went into the bedroom, closing the door most of the way. Liam heard the light flick off.
“Another generation of Paces.” Sinjin clutched at his chest dramatically. “I don’t think I can stand it.”
Pat poked him in the side. “This is serious, Sinjin.”
“Who isn’t being serious?”
“Lord, Liam,” Charlie said. “What are you going to do?”
“I invited her to come back to England with us,” Liam muttered.
His brother gave him a look that plainly asked whether he was an idiot. “Well, obviously.”
“Yeah,” Sinjin agreed. “What, were you going to leave her in Australia?” He laughed.
Liam kept his mouth shut.
“No, come on, she’ll love England,” Pat predicted confidently. “She’ll have a blast. And Melissa will be around to help out, she loves kids—”
A groan went up at the mention of Pat’s girlfriend, and Charlie grabbed the couch pillow to hit the drummer playfully.
“Wait,” Sinjin interrupted abruptly. “You said you invited her. Is she coming or isn’t she?”
Liam grimaced. “Dunno, she said she’d have to think about it.”
“What’s to think about?!” Charlie demanded.
He shrugged.
“And all the new colors,” Sinjin sang, “And pictures you’ve designed/Oh, yes, sweet darlin’/So glad you are a chi-ild of mine/Child of mine, chi-ild of mine…”
Liam wrestled the pillow away from his brother and hit Sinjin.
“I’ll go,” Karen announced abruptly, stomping into the hotel room and sitting next to Liam on the couch.
He blinked, weirdly disconcerted. “Oh. Uhm. Good?”
“Because,” she continued, “It’s not like I exactly have any other options. And I can’t handle this on my own. And you’re at least as responsible for this situation as I am. So I’ll go with you to England.”
Liam nodded, feeling overwhelmed. He shifted his weight on the couch. “Right. Okay.”
