An Cat Dubh 6

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

AnCatKatie

Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Messages
6,813
Location
pearl jammin'
I own nothing but Bono's slippery body—again, just kidding.

Nearly all fiction, based on some factual lyrics. And for my fictional purposes, he knows a little bit of Welsh. Come on, it's possible :cute: It works very well for my story purposes, anyhoo.

What is up with Edge? What is up with Cath? And Bono, stop wandering where you shouldn't!

More on Cath's past later, and on Edge.

(Song Bono sings when he's drunk is the Van Morrison version of 'Gloria' though I was listening to Patti Smith's. 70s punk is doing wonders helping me write!)

Warnings: nakedness, language, and scared out of my pants writing.

***

Edge agreed to come over to Ali’s; he had very little else to do but sit around working on guitar chords with no lyrics from Bono to tie them into a song. What the hell was up with Bono Vox, by the way? His moping and silence felt like it was ruining the band. The sounds coming from the guitar began to take on a life of their own, twisting darkly and discordantly through the room, moving his mind where it didn’t want to go. With some relief, he left the room and headed to Ali Stewart’s house.


Bono may have looked up from where he sat, lyricless, and seen Edge passing, but didn’t recognize that it was Edge. Drink was muddling Paul Hewson’s senses, making the world one big dangerous prism of autumn leaves and fuzzy sunlight in the chill. He smiled, his thoughts drifting. A bit of the last few months left his drunken mind with his reason, and he stood up and began walking, singing as he went in a raw voice, “Girl you look so fine…Gloria, G-L-O-R-I-A…


Edge’s mood improved after he left the house. The air was fresher, more real outside, though the trees huddled by the sidewalk like old women telling him not to knock. He did knock, however. The door opened before the knock was finished. Edge stared. Ali looked…good. In surprisingly good spirits, her eyes sparkling with laughter, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and the sleeves of her button-up shirt rolled up. He had assumed that she and Bono had broken up or something and she didn’t talk to any of them because it had left her a total mess.

Ali hugged him before he could finish speaking, her eyes losing a bit of the good humor they had gained, probably because of the whole situation of her and Bono and the band. “It’s been too long, Dave.”

“Hello Alison,” Edge greeted her, still a little flabbergasted. “What did you want me over for—who’s this?”

Ali’s movement drew to attention the other girl who stood a little ways away with an expression somewhere between fierce and open. At the sight of Edge, she froze and her hands locked around her arms that were bared by the tanktop she wore. She swallowed and her tension lessened somewhat.

“Cat,” Ali said, while simultaneously, the girl whispered, “Cath.”

An cath du,” Edge said, smiling. “An cat dubh,” Cath corrected him, a little mystified. His voice was beautiful, in an odd way musical as Paul Hewson’s was, though lighter and quieter. She felt a small bit more comfortable around him, if only because he seemed equally a little shy.

“What?” Ali asked, confused.

“All the black, and Cath means ‘cat’ in Welsh,” he responded. “The black cat.”

“Funny,” Ali said, rolling her eyes. “Come on, kids. Edge, you’re making breakfast.”

Edge raised his eyebrows but agreed readily enough.

“So how’d you get here, Cath?” he called over his shoulder as he prepared some new eggs. Cath was being unusually quiet, though she didn’t bolt from the room, at least. Ali had grown silent herself, wondering why Cath was reacting this way and trying to connect it to the bare bones of what Cath had told her about why she’d been sleeping in a bar.

“It’s a long story,” she said, before Edge turned around patiently and she spoke further; he was the kind of boy who would wait and listen to long stories. “I got kicked out of apartment I stayed in, and my family life—“—she winced—“—wasn’t the best. There were…a bunch of strange men around the place all the time, and my dad and brother were always drunk. It wasn’t safe to stay at home. Somehow, for some reason, I opened up to a boy I met at a bar…he was singing…” Edge was beginning to laugh, seeing where this was going. “Paul Hewson,” Cath continued. “He was…well, better than most of the men I’ve met. We spent a night together, and then I couldn’t find him...I was a little bit in shock from how fast things were going. I went back to the bar I first saw him in, after I was evicted from my apartment, and wound up being woken up by Ali, who mistook me for someone else and yelled at me.” She glanced mischievously over at Ali. “Not the best idea.”

“Sorry,” Ali muttered, feeling a bit awful. “I thought you were Bono.”

“Bono?” Cath asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

“Bono Vox. Paul’s stage name,” Edge clarified.

Cath narrowed her eyes at Ali, obviously figuring a few things out. “Well…anyways. I asked Ali, who obviously thought I was just going to beat her up or something—“

“You were pretty scary,” Ali shot back.

“—if she could tell me where Paul lived. It was my last option of places to go. She knew where, but she let me stay here instead…which is good. I don’t know if I could face him.”

Edge whistled. “Wow. You’ve been keeping all this secret, Ali?”

Ali set down a plate on the table hard. Edge winced at the clatter. “I haven’t been able to see the band for months, David,” she shot at him, sighing unhappily. “And Bono didn’t need to know. Cath had fecking cuts all over her face! I thought he was the reason for that and still…she doesn’t want to see him. He has no right to know what’s going on with some girl he abused.” Paul probably hadn't, but Ali had no idea what Paul was up to these days.

Cath had suddenly gone white-faced. “Excuse me,” she muttered. “It’s…” she swallowed. “Really hot in here…”

Edge looked more closely at her face. “You don’t look so good. Maybe you should have some water, Cath?” he suggested, concerned. Something in Cath’s expression…

“Eat some of the eggs!” Ali added. “Make you feel much better.”

Cath looked ill, and violently shook her head. “Sorry, Edge.” She bolted upstairs.

Ali shook her head. Edge was staring after where Cath had gone.

“Let’s finish this outside?” Ali suggested. He shrugged and took her plate while she opened the door. The fallen leaves on the ground were beautiful, little pieces of sunlight against the chill air.

Unfortunately, since they were outside, they didn’t see the front door was wide open and someone stumbled in.



Bono couldn’t remember how many times he had accidentally wound up in Ali’s house instead of his own…it wasn’t quite intentional this time. But he hadn’t seen his girlfriend in a while, for some odd reason, and he saw that the door was open.

Oh, she wants me to come in, he assumed, head buzzing pleasantly. The ground was whirling a little before him; he walked carefully. The sense of the world spinning died down after a short while. He clutched the doorframe while he waited for it to settle and become straight again, staring oddly.

“Hey, Ali, where are you?” he called, giggling, as he stumbled into the house, distracted by his feet, which he stared down at, bemused. His shoes were making it hard to walk. He slipped them off, a process that took a couple minutes. In the process, his shirt somehow got tangled around his ears and he tried to shrug it off, but it caught around his face. Red-faced, he yelled and thrashed about and his head popped free, the shirt falling forgotten to the carpet. He heard a slight sound upstairs—maybe Ali was in her bedroom?

“Okay, love,” he laughed. “I’m right up.” He charged up the stairs, then looked bemusedly at the two doors that faced him. One of them was Ali’s, he just didn’t remember which…he liked the left doorknob, so he turned that one. Bono blinked, eyes widening. His sight was strangely distorted, but he saw something luminescent, lit by the faint light coming in through the window. He squinted, and his sight focused a little. Ali was naked—well, nearly—and she didn’t really look like herself. Her body was smaller, thinner, more attractive than he remembered, and her hair was too long. He realized he had never seen Ali naked before. He stumbled forward to kiss her but the ground whirled beneath him and he tripped. Simultaneously, Ali made a sharp sound. Bono blinked, breathing hard, and reached for the light, pulling himself upwards. It snapped on, flooding the room with definition—and Ali was nowhere to be seen!

Puzzled, Bono shuffled out of the room to be met by…Ali. Ali, clothed.

“Your hair got short,” he noticed. “I thought I saw you naked in your room a minute ago. Why did you put your clothes back on, love?” he giggled.

“You’re drunk,” Ali stated, abruptly worried for Cath. Naked? What the hell? She had an odd feeling that Cath did not want to encounter Bono, and thought up a lie fast.

“You imagined it, honey,” she told him, overcoming the overwhelming urge to slap him—she missed him. His unfocused eyes were oddly intoxicating, so blue…he was breathing a little heavily, sweat beading his skin. She felt a sudden rush of attraction towards him, hitting heavily with the effects his reappearance gave her. At the same time…she sighed. This was not the best situation.

Cleaning up after his messes, again…

He started for the door to her bedroom, grinning, only to be blocked by Ali’s body. She drew her breath in sharply at his proximity; it was dizzying, having him physically there again. He was warm, pressed up against her, shirtless. They hadn’t been this close before…nearly…

“You need a bath,” she told him, thinking fast, and shoved him into the bathroom, nearly falling on top of him. “Come on, baby. Off with the clothes.”

“All right,” he chuckled, attempting to remove his pants and having difficulty. She sighed and helped him, ignoring for the most part how her face heated up and her body ignited when she touched him. She nearly slipped, in turning the faucet of the bathtub on, she was so distracted.

Distract him. He can’t know that Cath’s here.

Nearly half the bathwater slipped out of the tub when he half-stepped, was half hauled by Ali into the tub. Bono laughed, and his eyes caught hers. The intensity of his stare, drunk or not…it was almost an apology, in itself. She couldn’t look away.

He sunk a little deeper into the water, and Ali, uncaring that she got her clothes wet, slipped in behind him and held him so he didn’t fall asleep or drown. The contact was enough, and began to heal the rift he had placed between them. She pressed her lips to his forehead. His eyes closed, and he drifted off to sleep, feeling warm and very, very pleased with himself.



The wind rustled in the bare branches of the trees outside. A leaf drifted into Edge’s empty plate, bringing suddenly to his attention the passage of time: it was nearly dark out. What on earth was Ali doing? He wondered if Cath was alright. Getting Ali’s plate and Cath’s, putting Cath’s in the refrigerator and rinsing Ali’s plate and stacking it on top of his, he looked about the room. Ali wasn’t there. “Ali?” he called, stepping into the hall. No-one answered. On an impulse and a guess, he climbed the staircase and knocked on her bedroom door. There was no response.

He glanced downstairs…how odd. The front door was open. Maybe she’d gone outside…

Turning back, he realized his knock had pushed the door open, and he could see the darkened, seemingly empty room. He was about to head downstairs and find Ali—was she somewhere outside? Someone needs to make phones portable, Edge thought—when he noticed something off in the room, something bright and at an odd angle. He narrowed his eyes to try and focus what he saw, and his heart abruptly stuttered. An arm trailed out from beneath the bed, faintly scarred unlike Ali’s, bent and naked.

“Oh, shit,” Edge whispered. “Cath?” Why the hell was Cath under the bed? Something seemed very wrong. Pausing at the entrance, he made himself go in, and gently pull Cath’s arm to wake her up and get her out from under the bed. His heart turned cold—she wasn’t moving on her own—and froze the heat that rose to his face when he saw that Cath’s body, head cushioned on his legs, was naked, filmed with sweat. Completely practically, he felt at her neck for a pulse.

Maybe he had felt in the wrong place. He moved his finger.

Fuck. Maybe she was one of those people who it was impossible to feel a pulse on?

He bent his ear to Cath’s chest, which seemed oddly fragile when motionless. Her skin was burning hot. He heard nothing but the faint sound his hair made against her skin. Panicked, Edge shoved his fist down where her heart should be beating and listened again. Nothing. And pounded. And listened—there was a faint, strengthening heartbeat.

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, ALI?” Edge called, voice breaking. “We need to go to the hospital!”

There was a click as the bathroom door opened, and Ali, wild-eyed, her clothes sopping wet and dripping onto the carpet, rushed to where Cath lay.

“What happened? What’s wrong with her?”

“She didn’t have a fecking heartbeat, Ali, and she’s feverish.”

She looked at Edge frantically. There was a splashing sound from the bathroom, and Ali winced.

“What—?” Edge asked. “Bono,” Ali muttered. “He’s drunk. He’s having a bath. Listen, I don’t think he should know that Cath is here. I can cover for you if you take her to the hospital.”

Edge looked at her wildly. He was too concerned…good lord, did Edge…she put the thought out of her mind, and grabbed Edge’s arm.

“What if she dies, Ali?” Edge whispered. And Bono—or her family, everyone—hasn't apologized to her yet... was his clear unspoken thought.

“Go!” Ali fairly yelled at him. “You should hurry!”

Edge charged down the stairs, then—“Feck!” he whirled back. “She needs clothes!”

“No time! Pretend she’s your girlfriend and you were having sex or something.” Edge blushed. “Or that she was taking a bath! EDGE, GO!”

He ran out the door. A second later, his car left the sidewalk and sped out of sight.

It was nearly impossible for Ali to say nothing to Bono, who was still half-asleep. Even more impossible not to call and find out what was going on—she didn’t even know what hospital Edge had gone to…

And Bono…This was going to be very, very difficult to cover up to him.
 
:lol: DRUNK. NAKED. BONO! :lmao: BRILLIANT!

…he liked the left doorknob,so he turned that one.

Such a Bono thought!

And I ADORE your Edge! OMG! :cute:

This: Someone needs to make phones portable, Edge thought...

Fucking EdgeThought Extraordinaire! :applaud:

I laughed so hard during this chapter! And am I sensing a Edge/Cath flirtation/crush developing? :hyper: If so, that would be A-W-S-O-M-E!

And poor Cath...what's wrong with her and why was she naked?:huh: lol!

NEXT!
 
DRUNK NAKED BONO EQUALS PARTY :D Why was I not invited to this party? Shame...

The left doorknob is prettier, obviously...

Edge is so much fun to write! I've mostly just had Bono stumbling around drunk, so Edge ends up seeming MUCH more intelligent. Yeah...cell phones would be a lot useful in this story.

You may be sensing it...I think it's a little one-sided at the moment though. Cath...um...is having problems. But Edge is, typically, nicer than Bono in this story; I wonder what Cath's reaction to Bono would be after what he's done with Ali. Hmm...besides that she's hiding from him, if you haven't noticed. That getting under the bed and pretty much heart attack thing are his fault, a little.

I know :( What's wrong is not what you think. There's a bit of post trauma; she hasn't explained everything yet (if you were wondering about the billion cuts she's had and so on, and her house)...that is part of why she's hiding from Bono; she's overwhelmed. There's other stuff on top of it that she's not mentioning, though.

Naked can be explained easily: fever! Remember, she was like 'it's hot in here'...
 
:doh: I feel foolish. :lol: thank you for guiding me along the way there. i figured she was maybe ill--or that Edge's hotness had put her in a fever. :lmao:

And I've found that Edge is my favorite to write. Bono is too predictable. But Edge? You'll never know what he's going to do next. :evil:
 
One thing I've noticed is that everyone stays true to the 'characters' or people in their stories. Edge is centered and reasonable. Larry is black and white with moments of mischief. Poor Adam is fairly absent in my tale. And Bono is bombastic, a trouble-maker, charismatic, and a little silly. And lately the antagonist. It's good that he's a good guy in MW or the Bonogals would be all kinds of bummed out over the latest Edge-Love-Fest.

I like where this is heading thus far. I hope Bono is not to blame for all those cuts. :sad:
 
Good point, Grace—it is pretty easy to put them into their roles, though. I can't really imagine Edge being all that bad—although in Tender Trap he was definitely breaking stuff, and he's Creepy Guy in Lost Highway, I think—it's just too difficult. He's going to do something questionable in this, though, if that makes you feel better. And Bono's not all bad in it, either, just a little confused. He has two women he's been in a relationship with within about 20 feet of each other, for heaven's sake! :) And Adam's mostly going to be missing in this; I just don't know him enough...he may make a few teensy appearances. Larry will be important later on. He has an earring to copy...

Edge's hotness putting her in a fever...good one :D nope. You'll probably like the next chapter, though, with all the hospital people going 'you must be her girlfriend!' Awkward, awkward times!
 
Back
Top Bottom