Title: Whatever You Say
Characters: Chris Cornell, Alyssa, Judith, Howard, and Marilyn Morgan
Word Count: 2,287
Rating: PG-13 [language, alcohol and drug references
Warnings/Spoilers/Summary: It's Alyssa's last Thanksgiving living at home. Chris is completely alone for the holiday. Alyssa changes that.



As her last official Thanksgiving living at home, Judith roped Alyssa into all sorts of small activities. From making turkey decorations out of pinecones –which of course Judith had Alyssa drive into the mountains to collect – to baking pies together, the sisters were practically inseparable from Halloween to Thanksgiving. Alyssa did not quite understand it, as she knew she would return from college, wherever that might be, the following year, but she permitted her sister’s wishes. It had meant bringing Judith with her when she visited Chris, but he seemed to not mind it and Judith loved Chris and his dogs. However, with the actual holiday only a day away, she really needed a break from it all – including her sister. She just had no idea how she was going to manage to slip away from the nearly eleven-year-old girl.

Entering the kitchen where Marilyn stood in front of the oven, stirring something on the stovetop, Alyssa spoke up, “Mom, I need a break.”

“Honey, you’re already on break. You don’t have school the rest of the week,” she responded, not glancing up from her task.

“No, not that kind of break,” she declared. “I need a break from Judith.”

“Aly, you know your sister loves you very much. She–”

“Hasn’t left me alone since Dad mentioned on my birthday that it was my last birthday living here,” Alyssa interrupted.

Marilyn remained silent for a long moment, “All right. I can see what you mean. I’ll tell Judith she needs to help me out in the kitchen and you can have some alone time.”

“I want to see Chris.”

She set down her spoon and turned to look at the mature teenager at that declaration, “I’m sure Chris has plans with his fa–”

“He doesn’t. He’s alone, Mom,” she interrupted.

“Even today?”

Alyssa nodded, “And tomorrow. All week as far as I know.”

Marilyn looked at her stepdaughter for a long moment, “Well no one should be alone for the holidays. Go invite him over for tomorrow.”

“Really?” her eyes brightened. “Won’t that make Dad uncomfortable?”

“I’ll handle your father. Go see Chris and invite him over, Aly.”

“Thank you!” she quickly squeezed Marilyn and skipped out of the kitchen.

Running up to her room, she quickly changed out of her tee shirt and jeans, not that Chris would have cared what she wore, into a dark green corduroy jumper, forgoing a shirt underneath like she should have worn. Alyssa pulled her jacket on and shoved her feet into her mary janes before grabbing her purse and running back downstairs. As she reached for her keys on the hook near the door, Judith stepped into the hallway.

“Where you going?”

“To see Chris,” she responded.

“I’ll get my shoes.”

“No,” Alyssa stated. “I’m going alone.”

“But–”

“Look, Judi, I love you and I love spending time with you. But we’ve been hanging out every single waking moment for over a month now. I need some me time. And I need some me and Chris time. I’m not leaving for college for something like ten months, Judi. You’ve got to let up,” Alyssa said.

“But–”

“Judith! Come help and leave your sister be,” Marilyn called from the kitchen.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Alyssa quickly hugged Judith and hurried out the door.



Lying on the couch, empty beer bottle on the coffee table, Chris sighed. While he had agreed to separate from Susan very easily over six months before, he had not expected the holidays so suck so much. His family probably hated him even more then, least he assumed as much as he had not spoken to any of them in ages. He presumed his wifewas with her family. And Alyssa… Alyssa had to be with her family. It was just him and the dogs in his little apartment in Seattle.

Life sucked. He needed another beer.

Rolling off the couch, Chris shuffled into his small kitchen. As his fingers closed around the cold handle, a knock sounded at his door. Surprised to have a visitor but certainly happy about it, he headed towards the door, shaking his head that the dogs had not stirred at all. Quickly unlocking the deadbolt, he pulled the door open without even glancing in the peephole.

“Lyssie?” he muttered.

She quickly embraced him, pushing him into his apartment. Her lips touched his briefly but as she pulled back, she scowled. Her golden eyes glanced around quickly, settling on the empty beer bottles on his coffee table. There were only three, not an entire case. That was of some relief to her.

Closing the door behind her, Chris repeated her name.

Turning back to face him, she smiled sweetly, “Come have Thanksgiving with me.”

“I… really? Won’t your parents…?”

“Mom’s idea,” she answered. “Why are you drinking?”

“Um, well,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I wasn’t… you know… expecting you.”

“You were going to drink away the holiday?”

“Um, well, yeah,” he said sheepishly. “I have nowhere but you.”

She smiled slightly, “Well now I’m here. And I’m not going home ‘til you sober up. So what do you want to do?”

Chris stared at her for a long moment, “We could… uh… watch TV?”

She glanced at the couch, “Why don’t we take the dogs for a walk instead?”

“I… uh… sure…”

Gathering up their collars and leashes, Alyssa roused Chris’s lazy dogs. Once they realized the girl’s intentions and the fact she was there as it were anyways, their tails began to wag and their ears perked up. They happily allowed her to clip on their leashes, handing one to Chris. Making certain the singer had his keys, the pair left the apartment. Riding the elevator down, Chris’s fingers tentatively reached for Alyssa’s. He smiled as she wrapped her hand around his. By the time the elevator reached the ground level and the doors opened, the dogs lurched forward, pulling the couple out.

Within a block Alyssa wondered how the dogs could pee that much. They had seemingly urinated on everything they passed.

“Chris? When’s the last time you took the dogs out?” she asked softly.

“Awhile ago.”

“Before you started drinking?”

“Yeahhh.”

“Which was when?”

“Fuck, Lyss, I don’t know,” he grumbled, pulling his hand free from hers. “They’ve been out today. Isn’t that good enough for you?”

Alyssa stopped and looked at him, “Whoa, babe, what’s wrong?”

His eyes went to hers, still filled with angst, “I don’t need you questioning what I d–”

“Christopher,” she warned.

“What the fuck, Alyssa?” he growled.

Her eyes watched his for a long time, “You didn’t just drink, did you?”

“I… what the fuck?”

“You’re crashing now, aren’t you?”

“Goddammit, Alyssa,” he muttered.

She reached up and touched his cheek softly, “Let’s go back to the apartment, Chris.”

Nodding he turned, whistling for the dogs to follow. Not speaking another word, the couple headed directly to the elevator. Only Alyssa spoke to Chris’s neighbors as they passed. He fumbled some with the lock, not at all aided by the fact the dogs pushed against the door. Once returned, Alyssa snapped off their leashes, both of the German Shepherds bounded into the apartment in search of toys. Chris instantly turned and headed towards the kitchen. Without much thought, Alyssa cut him off after closing the door, and pointed him towards the couch. His eyes held hers for a long moment, challenging her.

He turned and went to the couch.

Alyssa joined him a few minutes later, offering him a mug of hot tea before sitting next to him. At first, he refused it, but seeing the look in her eyes, he accepted the cup. It took a few minutes of Alyssa staring at him before he chanced a sip of the hot drink. He had no idea he had this in his cupboard, at all.

“You look bewildered,” she commented softly.

“I didn’t know I had tea,” he responded.

“I brought it over last week,” she replied. “There’s hot cocoa mix too, from Judith.”

Chris glanced around, “Where is she?”

Alyssa chuckled, “She’s at home. Mom made her stay so I could have a break from her.”

“Oh,” he sipped the drink again.

“Chris, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, Lyssie. Nothing at all.”

“You’re drinking and doping alone? Bullshit, Chris.”

“I… I… uh…”

“Chris,” she reached for his hand, “what’s going on?”

“I… fuck, Lyssie, I don’t want to talk about it,” he blurted out.

She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it softly, “You don’t have to. You just should have called me, Chris. I would have come over sooner.”

“But… I… fuck…”

She kissed his hand again, “I understand, babe. I do. Let’s just rest for awhile and then we’ll head to my house.”

“Wait, your house? Thanksgiving isn’t until tomorrow,” he pointed out.

“I know. But you’re coming home with me. And so are the dogs,” declared Alyssa.

“But–”

“No buts, Chris. You are.”



Waking to the sound of laughter, Chris rubbed his eyes. Lying in the foreign bed for a long moment, he tried to place where he was. Inhaling deeply, he tasted the scent of… home. He knew it was not his home – not that he had any idea where that was. The longer he lay there, listening to the house and smelling its personality, the closer he got to figuring out where he was. As her name danced into his thoughts, a soft knock rapped on the door.

The door opened slightly, “Chris? Are you up?”

Wondering how long it would take her to figure it out or if she would do something else, Chris said nothing. The door opened more and the young woman slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. She stepped carefully over to the bed, pausing to pet the dogs lying on the rug.

Sitting on the bed, she spoke, “So how long you gonna pretend you’re asleep?”

“Until you kiss me awake,” he replied.

Giggling softly, she leaned over and kissed him sweetly before leaning back up and brushing her hair from her face, “Get up, lazy butt. We need to go walk the dogs before our help is needed in the kitchen. Oh and you get to meet my grandparents today, so you have to be on your very best behavior.”

Alyssa kissed him again quickly before leaving the room – but not before flicking on the overhead light. Rubbing his eyes, Chris adjusted to the bright light and rolled out of bed. Patting the dogs’ heads, he got to his feet. He figured he would shower when they returned from the walk, so he quickly dressed in the clothes he wore the day before. Patting his thigh, he opened the door and led the dogs out. He said a quick good morning to Alyssa’s parents before meeting her at the front door.

The dog walk was brief, far briefer than Chris would have liked as he knew he would not have the chance to spend any alone time with Alyssa for the rest of the day. He knew the rules now though: no kissing or alluding to their relationship to Marilyn’s parents. Howard was still uncomfortable with it, despite everything, so it certainly was not cool to wave a flag for it. Chris was used to that. He and Alyssa had always been something to themselves. Hiding it from grandparents was no big deal, he hoped.

Returning to the kitchen freshly showered and dressed in clean clothes, Chris halted in the archway. Alyssa and her sister laughed as they filled appetizer plates. His green eyes remained trained on her, watching their innocent interactions. The longer he was unnoticed, the more a warm glow filled his soul. She glanced up and met his gaze, smiling brightly at him. He knew in that instant, she was the one for him.

“Chris,” she beckoned him over, “you can help us with these trays. And then I’ll introduce you to Gramps and Granny.”

The introductions went surprisingly well, leading to very little tension at the dinner table. Chris was charming, making certain he addressed everyone with respect. The Morgans included him with every family discussion. He could not help but think this was what family life was supposed to be like.

And he wanted that exact thing with Alyssa.

After the table was cleared, Chris and Alyssa slipped out onto the back porch. Their excuse had been to allow his dogs to potty, but really it was to have a few moments alone. As she had not grabbed a jacket, his arms quickly snaked around her in attempts to keep her warm. She pulled from his embrace quickly, turning to face him. Her lips brushed his quickly before she snuggled against him again.

“Today has been… fantastic, Aly,” Chris muttered. “It is like… a dream.”

“You did so well. I think my dad might even like you a bit more,” she commented softly.

“Really?”

“Really,” she nodded, wiggling closer to him. “And you’re staying here tonight too.”

“I… are you sure?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she declared. “Plus I don’t feel like driving you back right now. So you’ll stay and tomorrow morning Mom and Judith will get up early to go shopping and Dad will go to work and I’ll make you breakfast.”

Chris remained silent for a moment, “This seems unreal. I think I must still be passed out on the couch dreaming this.”

“Nope,” Alyssa quickly kissed him. “This is real, very real. And we should go in. I’m cold and the dogs have peed.”

He chuckled, “Whatever you say, Lyssie. Whatever you say.”