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So, coming to stay with her mother? Possibly one of the worst ideas ever. That includes the have-sex-with-Rorschach idea. Just look at where that ended up.
"And who is this cowboy? You seem to be the strong, silent type." He shudders away from her hands, hard shoulders wilting. Walter leans toward Dan. Even Sally Jupiter can take a hint. "Well, sorry, sugar."
"William," Laurie interjects, "he doesn't talk, not since New York. He's been a bodyguard for Sam and me." There is absolutely no reason to tell the truth.
"You need a bodyguard? You?" she raises her plucked eyebrows, "I thought I raised you better then that, Laurel Jane."
"Things were different in New York," says Dan, smoothing a hand over her shoulder, "he helped us and we weren't going to leave him behind."
Sally is still staring, eyes cutting between the three of them, huddled in the corner of the kitchenette you can't see through the window. She raises her hands. "It is a brave new world, isn't it?"
Her mother makes some calls, cancelling everything for the next few days, she's not feeling like it, no, no doctor. She makes a trip to the market, stocking up on bread and milk, buys a blanket. She doesn't even complain that her daughter is only visiting to use her as a hide-out from the state authorities once. Laurie should have known then that something was up, but she was busy trying to convince Rorschach, who reappeared once her mother was out the door, that sex in a shower cubicle was a good idea. It was Dan that won him over, really, but she's in no position to complain.
Dan and Laurie share the couch, which is not meant to be shared. Dan's not as soft as he was the first time they did this, but he's comfortable enough. Rorschach lies alongside the couch, so if she drops her arm she can touch his chest, hear his breath catch. With Dan's heartbeat in her ear and Walter's under her palm, she falls asleep.
During the days they exercise in the confines of the apartment, Laurie tries to talk to her mother, Walter reads every book and magazine and Dan writes a poem he won't let anyone see, she thinks he rhymed bower with power and decides not to investigate further. After a week she thinks she's going to explode, she wants to run down a road and beat someone up and watch Rorschach get fucked and eat a giant hamburger with pickles and a strawberry shake. She fucking hates strawberry.
The eighth morning, they figure they're safe. Cops have short attention spans, roadblocks are expensive. They pack up and wipe down the place, and then Laurie herds the men into her mother's room, closes the door, confronts her mother about Blake.
It goes better then she thought, with love and tears and hugs, up until the point when her mother rests her hands on Laurie's stomach and says "You'll understand soon."
The worst idea.
