Dragged Down by the Undertow

Blue Crush fandom

Title: Dragged Down by the Undertow

Author: Aeryn Sun

Feedback: Yes, please. Make my millennium.

Archiving: Ask, and ye shall receive. Just ask first.

Rating: NC-17, at some point/language, sexuality, angst

Spoilers: The movie Blue Crush. If you didn't see it, this isn't going to make much sense since this picks up shortly after it ends.

Summary: My take on what happened after the movie ended.

Couple: Eden/Anne Marie

Warning: If the idea of two women involved in a romantic relationship together disturbs you, run, run far far away and never look back. If it's illegal where you live, move quickly. Too young? Age quicker, it's fun here. Other than that, enter at your own risk, and enjoy.

Author's Notes: This has been banging around in my head since I saw the movie. There was just TOO much subtext going on between Anne Marie and Eden to ignore. So I figured, why not?

Disclaimer: Oh please, I WISH I owned Michelle Rodriguez and Kate Bosworth. I'd never leave the house. But no, the movie, concept and whatnot aren't mine. I'm making no money, not even at Wal-Mart so don't sue me. Unless you WANT my Harry Potter watch. Then we can negotiate.

Part 1

"Penny, get up, you've gotta get to school," Eden gave the sleeping fourteen year old a hearty shake to rouse her and received a groan in response.

"Nermfph…" Penny complained. Eden smiled slightly. If it were up to her, she'd let the kid stay home but she knew Anne Marie would kill them both if she did that.

<Besides, at least ONE of us should have a proper education. And it sure ain't gonna me> she thought sarcastically.

"Come on," she tried again. "With your sister outta town you're MY responsibility and I say you gotta get up for school. UP!" She grabbed the sheets and pulled, rolling Penny out of the bed and onto the floor with a thump.

"I'm up, I'm up, you ogre," Penny grumbled. Penny sat up and glared at her human wake-up call. "What's for breakfast?" Eden thought for a minute.

"Twinkies and Eggos," she answered with a smirk.

"Healthy."

"Yeah well, we need groceries. Remind me to see if Lena has any cash," Eden commented while remaking Penny's bed, more out of habit from being a maid than anything else. Penny laughed.

"Are you nuts? Lena NEVER has any cash," the teen pointed out. "Maybe she could shoplift some rice cakes." Eden made a face.

"Ick. I'd rather eat the wallpaper," she scoffed as she finished the bed and stood back to admire her work. "Man, I gotta get a new job." Penny frowned.

"Have you heard from Anne Marie?" she asked quietly. Eden sent her a sympathetic look.

Anne Marie had basically been MIA since losing the Pipe Masters two weeks earlier. But even in losing, her gusto and fresh face had won her several endorsement deals. BillaBong, X-Cel wet suits, Astrodeck and several others had immediately sought out Anne Marie to be the new spokesperson for their new campaigns. And G-Force Surfboards were currently talking with Eden over her surfboard designs. But aside from all that, Anne Marie had taken off to the mainland with her football player boyfriend, Matt, almost as soon as the commotion had died down, leaving Penny in Eden's care and promising to call soon. She had yet to call and Eden was beyond pissed. It was almost an echo of what Anne Marie's mother had already done to her. Eden couldn't believe that Anne Marie would do the same thing to Penny.

"'Fraid not, kiddo. Maybe today though," she tried to sound convincing but knew she hadn't pulled it off when Penny's face turned hard.

"Yeah right, whatever." The teen grabbed her clothes for the day and headed for the bathroom.

"Hey, don't act like that," Eden called after her. "Hey, don't walk away when I'm talkin' to you!" The bathroom door slammed in her face. "Fuckin' brat," she growled.

She headed towards the kitchen, stopping first at the dull snores coming from Lena's room. She walked over to her roommate, sprawled out on the mattress on the floor and gave her a prod with her foot.

"What am I, everyone's fucking mother? Get up!"

"God, what crawled up your ass and died?" Lena complained, rolling over to glare at Eden.

"I just had to tell the kid that Anne Marie didn't call AGAIN. What do YOU think my problem is?" Eden barked.

Lena snorted to herself softly. She had a pretty good idea what Eden's problem was and it had precious little to do with having to disappoint Penny.

She sometimes wondered how Anne Marie could be so oblivious to Eden's true feelings for her when it was painfully obvious to everyone else in the zip code. Even Penny had made a comment or two about the 'sickening moon eyes' that Eden was prone to shooting in Anne Marie's direction. Then again, Lena wasn't even sure Eden was fully aware of how she really felt for their missing blonde roommate.

"What's so funny?" Eden snapped. Lena sighed.

"Nothing. Damn girlfriend, you seriously need to get laid," she retorted as she stood and stretched. Eden rolled her eyes.

"Is that your answer for everything, Lena?" she asked exasperated. Lena pretended to think for a minute then nodded.

"Uh, yup," she giggled. "A little shaka shaka boom boom and the world is good again."

"Oh please, you haven't had sex in…" Eden started to tease.

"Three months…shut up," Lena warned as she started to laugh. "My world is not right, man. It's not right."

"OK, we'll see you at 3. And NO DITCHING," Eden instructed as she and Lena dropped Penny off at school. Penny sighed dramatically and saluted.

"Yes, Drill Sergeant!" she called out before giggling and running off towards class.

"Wise ass," Eden mumbled as she drove away.

"So where are we going today, E?" Lena asked as she stared out the window. A fine mist of rain was splattering against the windows as the rickety station wagon barreled down the highway.

"We need groceries, Lena. Has Anne Marie sent any money? Cuz we're out of cash and I mean OUT. We don't even have anything left to pawn." Eden pointed out as she concentrated on the road. The cars tires were bald and the slick road made driving tricky.

"Nope, not a cent," Lena reminded Eden, wondering why the dark-haired girl had even asked. Eden knew Anne Marie hadn't sent any money from the mainland. For all they knew, Anne Marie was buried in a ditch somewhere in Southern California.

<Oh, THAT'S cheerful, Lena. No more true crime books from the supermarket for you> she chided herself.

"Damn selfish bitch," Eden growled. "I mean, I don't mind taking care of Penny for her but she could at least call the kid. And she KNEW we were low on cash. It's not like her boy-toy is hurting for it. She could send Penny a few dollars for food if she's not coming back soon."

"What about your endorsement deal with G-Force?" Lena wondered. Eden shrugged.

"My advance won't come through for another two weeks. No big deal. I mean, I'm fine. But we need stuff for Penny and the house. Normal shit like toilet paper." Lena nodded. It was kind of embarrassing to ask their friends to 'borrow' rolls of toilet paper.

"I mean, shit, if she knew she was going to be gone so long she should have told us," Eden ranted.

"Maybe she didn't realize…"

"SHE SHOULD HAVE CALLED BY NOW!" Eden's voice echoed around the car making Lena wince as Eden banged angrily on the steering wheel. "Damn it."

"You're unbelievable," Lena sighed. Eden shot her a questioning glare from the driver's seat.

"What? What, I don't have a right to be angry cuz she's hurt Penny the way she has? Jesus, Lena, Anne Marie always swore she didn't want to be like her mother. Her mother, who ran off and LEFT her and Penny to be with some guy. So what does 'little-miss-high-and-mighty' do? Runs off with Mr. Football fuck and doesn't come back. That's EXACTLY what her mother would have done." Lena shook her head and rolled her eyes dramatically.

"No, you AND I AND Penny should be mad that she hasn't called. And believe me, unless her excuse is 'I was abducted by aliens' I'm going to yell at her as soon as I can," Lena started to explain. "But you, you're unbelievable, hiding behind 'concern' for Penny to hide how you really feel. God, Eden, grow some balls and admit what everyone else, EXCEPT you and Anne Marie, already know!"

A sick sinking feeling was growing in the pit of Eden's stomach and it had nothing to do with the fact that Penny and Lena had eaten most of the Twinkies and Eggos and the one waffle she'd eaten had been a little 'hinkey' looking.

Every once in a while, Lena would get on a 'Eden loves Anne Marie' kick and it would both panic Eden and piss her off. Oddly enough for the same reason: she was afraid that it was true.

At first, Eden and Anne Marie were adversaries, competitors as children. Eden had always been number-one on the Junior Surfing circuit until Anne Marie had shown up. Then she was always playing second banana to the blonde-haired, dual color eyed girl. They weren't fast friends but eventually developed a deep friendship over time. And as soon as Eden realized that her drive was no match for Anne Marie's natural talent, she switched from competing with Anne Marie to coaching her. They picked up Lena along the way and since none of them really had any family, they became their own family.

Eden was always in a form of awe over Anne Marie's natural beauty. The 'All-American Girl' look was in direct opposition to Eden's own dark beauty. Anne Marie stood out in the crowd of darker skinned Hawaiians while Eden blended in. Therefore, Anne Marie got more attention. Not that Eden minded. She was usually content to work behind the scenes with Anne Marie, getting her ready for competitions. It was only in the realm of relationships and dating that the differences started to bother Eden.

As they grew older, Eden found herself growing more and more protective of Anne Marie and never liked any of the guys Anne Marie dated. Ever. Plus the blonde's natural inability to let anyone close led to bad relationships and Eden was always stuck picking up the pieces. Not that she minded. She liked being close to Anne Marie.

And it was after a particularly bad breakup of Anne Marie's that Eden realized it: she had feelings for the blonde. Deep feelings that were more than just concern or empathy. Feelings that went more towards 'I wouldn't treat her that way' and 'why can't she seem to see that I'm better for her?' It scared her and made her angry because it was something she couldn't control.

And it pissed her off to no end that no matter how hard she tried to bury it, or fight it, that Lena was able to read her like a neon lit billboard.

"Don't start with this bullshit again, Lena," Eden warned. "I'm not in the mood."

"Aw come on, Eden," Lena whined. "You two practically ooze sexual tension when you're together and you're so jealous of Matt your eyes turn green whenever you mention him."

"Bite me," Eden grumbled. Yes, she was jealous of Matt Tollman and the fact that she felt that he had stolen Anne Marie from them.

<First chance she got at a pretty, rich fuck and she jumped at it> Eden thought darkly.

"Wouldn't you rather Anne Marie bite you?" Lena teased with a wag of her eyebrows.

"OK, that's it," Eden declared, pulling the car over to the shoulder of the road.

"What?" Lena asked laughing. "Oh come on, Eden, it was only a joke," she called after the darker girl who exited the car and began to walk away in the rain. Lena slipped behind the wheel and pulled it up beside Eden.

"Get in the car, Eden," she instructed.

"Go to Hell, Lena," Eden growled back.

"I was kidding! God, what's happened to you? Can't you take a joke anymore?" Eden stopped, flipped Lena the finger and walked away.

"Fine, suit yourself, Eden," Lena grumbled to herself as she pulled back into traffic. "You're the one who's gotta walk 10 miles home in the pouring rain." She sighed. "Stubborn ass."

Part 2

“Yo, E! This just arrived, Fed Ex’d,” Lena screamed out the front door to Eden who was in the garage sanding down a new board. Eden shut off the sander, brushed some of the fiberglass from her face and sighed.

“Alright, be right there!” she called back. She really didn’t want to go into the house. Ever since Lena’d started with the ‘Eden loves Anne Marie’ crap again, Eden hadn’t wanted to even be around her taller friend. She had made sure that she was up and out of the house long before Lena ever cracked an eye open. The last thing she wanted was to start first thing in the morning with more teasing from her frighteningly astute but incredibly loud mouthed pal.

Eden was more upset with herself than with Lena. She’d had a long time to think about the whole situation while walking home in the rain the day before and unfortunately, as she saw it, she hadn’t been able to think of a good argument to defend herself against Lena‘s accusation.

She liked Anne Marie, that was for sure. How could she not? They’d been friends for what felt like forever. After awhile, Eden found that she couldn’t even remember what her life was like before Anne Marie…or Lena and Penny for that matter. They were her family; a closer and better family than the one she’d been born into. She didn’t have much contact with her real family anymore; she’d given up on them and vice versa a long time ago. But unlike her real family, Anne Marie, Lena, and Penny never gave up on her. Especially Anne Marie.

<She’s always there> Eden mused as she headed to the shack that they affectionately referred to as their house. <Like some sort of constant, yet pleasant pain in my ass, she’s there.> She smiled.

“Ooooooo whatcha thinking’ about, E? Anne Marie?” Lena teased when she saw the slightly goofy smile on Eden’s face. She hoped for everyone’s sake, especially Eden and Anne Marie, that her two friends had finally grasped a clue. She and Penny even had a bet going as to who would wake up and smell the Hawaiian blend first.

The fact that her two friends obviously had more than ‘familial’ feelings towards each other didn‘t bother the tall surfer. As far as Lena was concerned, love was love and that was that. Hell, it wasn’t like she hadn’t played on that side of the street herself once or twice. And Eden and Anne Marie both knew about her various adventures; mostly because she liked to discuss the details, whether they wanted to hear them or not. That was the way she was; she went where her heart took her and dealt with the consequences later.

But Eden and Anne Marie were driving her crazy.

She’d started noticing different signs from both her friends a long time ago. Every time that Anne Marie had another disastrous relationship, the blonde would cry herself into oblivion in Eden’s lap. Sure, maybe that wasn’t a sign but when you catch your two friends asleep twisted around each other like a pretzel more than once after these cry fests, you start to look at things a bit differently.

Eden’s over protectiveness. Anne Marie’s constant reliance on Eden in nearly all matters. The subconscious touching that Lena didn’t think they were even aware of. Hair petting, cheek stroking, hand caressing. For Lena it was like watching two annoying newlyweds sometimes, especially when they got all goofy eyed at each other. It was those times when she just wanted to scream ‘get a room!’ at them.

And yet they were so adorably oblivious to it all. Especially Anne Marie. Lena suspected, and now knew, that Eden was aware that there was some other thing between her and the blonde. And she was an Olympian at denial, no doubt there. All Lena had to do was insinuate that Eden liked Anne Marie in a deeper way and the hot-tempered girl went ballistic. Fun to watch though. But Anne Marie was simply clueless. Painfully so.

Anne Marie was so far in denial that Lena was nearly at the point of giving up on the blonde ever realizing where her heart lay. ‘Surely after this bad breakup, Anne Marie will notice the one person that’s always cared for her, fight?’ Lena would ask herself each and every time that Anne Marie’s relationships went south. She really didn’t know how such a bright girl could be so damn dense sometimes.

“No, I was thinking about knocking your head off your shoulders, ass,” Eden growled as she snatched the Fed Ex envelope from Lena’s hands. Lena shook her head and tried to remember her original question.

“Heh, spaced out for a second there,” she smiled. “So what’s inside?” Eden ripped open the package, in lieu of ripping off Lena’s head. A piece of paper and a check fell out.

“Shit, it’s a check from Anne Marie!” Lena exclaimed as she picked it up and read the balance. “Whoo hoo! Three thousand dollars, straight from the mainland!”

“Great, now we can pay our bills and buy HER little sister some damn food,” Eden grumbled as she unfolded the accompanying piece of paper.

“What does it say?” Lena tried to peer over the shorter girl to see the note.

“’Dear guys‘,” Eden snorted as she read it out loud. “’I know that I’ve fucked up…’ Well duh, you selfish jerk,” she added before continuing. “’And I really want to tell you how sorry I am. I don’t know what happened or why I didn’t call. But I guess we’ll discuss it more when I get home. Until then, here’s the money that I should have sent earlier. Again, I’m sorry. I wish that didn’t sound so damn pathetic. Love, A-M.”

“Better late than never, right?” Lena eyed her silent friend. She watched the muscle on the side of Eden’s jaw twitch.

“Yeah, whatever.” Eden through the letter on the table and shook her head. “Man, she didn’t even say ‘hi’ to Penny. You’d think she’d at least add a ‘say hi to Penny’ or an ‘I’m sorry, Penny’, don’t you. God, she never thinks about anyone but herself.”

“I agree with you, mostly, kinda…” Lena began. “But at least it’s something, Eden. At least she’ll have a house to come back to now.”

“Yeah…IF she ever decides to COME back.”

TBC