Diamonds on the Inside

Rating: R to be safe. Sex, drugs and rock and roll is loaded in this baby. There will be fair warning when the chapter posted dallies in these areas.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gerard Butler. I do own Evelyn though so hands off people lol. Story is my own yada, yada, but there's some Dear Frankieness going on.

*takes a deep breath* Ehem...here goes.


Prologue
Quando M’Innamoro
(A Man without Love)

The swirling light of the streetlamp died and the youth kicked a stone across the pavement, waiting for the dawn to approach. He stumbled over cracks, giggling at himself and his demeanour, the stench of spirits stained on his lips. His raspy voice a command to the bird life that was awake at this hour.

The alleyways brightened as he jogged up the street, clamouring to his front door and pushing at the doorknob, laughing at the inexplicable shine of the silver key enclosed in his fingers. He stumbled through the door and into the hallway, scuffing his feet when he saw the reading lamp was still on, as his father drummed his fingers across the massive book that sat in his lap. His incongruent jade nightrobe draped across his shoulders.

The long silence unnerved the youth, his father watching him with furrowed eyebrows his expression serious and intact, denying his handsome smile. They stared at each other, knowing full well who would break the silence.

“Da, I won’t do it again,” The Scottish scrawl of an accent came out accompanied by the smell of the string of alcohol consumed that night, his head bent, ashamedly, as his fingers scurried about his jacket pocket.

Intimidating, his father rose to his full height, leaving the heavy book behind, the ominous feeling that he would box his son’s ears, loomed over the boy, who shivered a little from the cold.

“Run upstairs and away to bed,” he said in a deep booming voice, though he tried to still the anger in him, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve got school tomorrow morning, and I sure as hell am not cleaning the shed on my own, Danny,” he added, his frown still deep.

The youth nodded, rushing up the stairs, stopping on the fifth stair, finding its familiar inward bend a comfort as he pressed his fingers to his lips and then to the picture that hung on the wall.

“Mornin’ ma,” he said with a small intoxicated smile, and scrambled up the stairs before he could be scolded.

His father sighed, sitting back down, and resting his head in his hands, the lure of nicotine taking him over, he fumbled for his packet, finding one last cigarette, his short lived saviour and puffed on it till the sun came up, thoughts somersaulting in his head.

:heartbeat: Pat

Goodness Gracious Mary Agnes, the girl can write. The girl can write gritty and gutsy and sexy. It's sharp and it's real and it's wild, and I love it. It is poetic and lyrical and gives me chills. GOD DAMN YOU WOMAN!

I'm glad you liked it Han. It gives me momentum to update my other fics. *goes about writing the rest of ASA chapter*

:heartbeat: Pat

I love how you introduced so many aspects of a supposed background for the reader to take, just with a few paragraphs. Mary Agnes is RIGHT!!

Pat!!! We're starting a Gerry revolution! :tsk: Yaya!

Post more soon, this is absolutely amazing. I love the ideas you're giving me of where this story may lead.

And I love!love!love! how you have Dear Frankie (the best movie evAr!) and Phantom in the banner. Teehee. :hug:

You inpsired this in me! YOU NEED CREDIT! lol.

Indeed we are! We should have a ceremony...pluck mr Butler from wherever he is...and er...strip him naked because we said so! :tsk:

There will be more soon now that I'm going back to school, I know that's kind of weird, but I write better things when my life is hectic lol. There shall be more and more of my other fics so readers don't fret!

Ooooh Samma I'm so happy you read this! I was waiting for you rofl. Ooh, that sounds almost stalkerish ahaha. HELLO CLARICE *laughs* The banner is love! The picture of Gerry and the rose was too cute to pass up heee :)

:hug: *goes to get a life now*

:heartbeat: Pat

I'm so honored, my stalker. And to think, Anything Goes was just posted on a whim.. crazy how the world works, huh? One whim turns out to be a Scotty Revolution!!!

I understand the whole chaos = more writing thing. It totally works. This is more of a stress reliever thing for me, and so if there's nothing exciting going on, I got nothing. Fortunately (or unfortunately, you choose), there's plenty of drama going on right now. God, being 16 is so much fun. (Gah!20 years.. :cry: )

So, bring on the chaos, baby.

YEAH!!! it a Gerard Butler Fic! This is going to be interesting. I'm very curious to see what happens. Can't wait for more and i do hope you are able to write more for your other fics. I'm dying for a remus chapter in Mischief Managed. Cat's been going on about James... and well i can only handle the arrogant(?) man for so long. :lol: Anyways...

Ciao :eeek:

*beams* What can I say....I LOVE Gerry stories! I am greatly pleased to see a new one up. :wub: I liked this beginning, Pat. The boy is mischieviously cute, and I love the way the dad disapproved. Shall be waiting for more!

Okay... so, what happened to two updates by the time I got back? :lalala:

Helllllllloooo! Another Gerry fic?!

Geez, between Samma, Schmooie and Bee Sting, and you, you all are going to turn me into a full blown Gerry addict! Not that I would mind or anything.... ^_^

As always, you intrigue me with your style of writing and this story is no different.

Hm...I have not seen this Dear Frankie, something tells me I should.

Loved this line....

The mental picture in my head while I read this line is just to freaking cute!

More when you are able and willing. :love:

It's coming. You have the right to attack me with lemons if you'd like, but just remember, my sister is zee internet police and I dont get much time to do things that aren't homework related. I'm gonna shimmy to the library tomorrow after school. It'll be up then. Bear with me please! I love you! lol.

:heartbeat: Pat

Just keep giving me promises of updates, and I'll be yours, my love. :hug:

Guh... I'l review your fantabulous start of what looks to be a fantabulous story in one second...

I HAVE NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I barely have time to get a word in about him because you rant about Christian Bale and Gerard Butler for about a million hours a day!!!

:lalala: Not that there's anything WRONG with Gerry Butler *suddenly very aware she's among a zillion Gerard Butler fans* He's awesome. I just watched Reign of Fire. And I've always loved Phantom...

But anyway, as I was saying...

I thought it was a great funny beginning, they way he was smashed and attempting to avoid being scolded. Ehehe, awesome way to start a story. I can't wait to see what this intoxicated person turns out to be like!! ^_^
I also like the title! Yay for diamonds!! I wish I had diamonds on the inside... then I could like make a crown... or buy a mountain of Gucci shoes!! Score!! But, now non-shallowy, I think it's an interest-catching title. I can't help but want to know more ^_^

:hug: Love ya!

Bella!! Sorry I didn't reply to this sooner! My net crashed and as I've been saying I got it back only a couple of days ago and with school back I've hardly been on. But I LOVE THIS!!! and it doesn't help that I'm a sucker for accents so the fact he's scottish totally rocks!!!
I can't wait for the next bit, as is always the case with your stories!
Keep it up hun.

Chloe xxx

Chapter 1
Sometimes you can’t go on alone


Stacking bricks was punishment enough, Danny thought, as his soft hands collected dirt and grime at the muddied bricks. It was common for him and his father to clean out the shed at least twice monthly. His father was a mild hoarder, collecting things that didn’t even belong in their house. Sometimes it was hard for people to guess Mr Butler was indeed a doctor. He had given up the best part of his career for his kid, and though many women ‘ooohed’ and ‘ahhed’ at his sacrifice, they just thought him a nice man.

With a frown at his exertion and boredom, Danny poked a pile of bricks with the toe of his mud-spattered shoes and watched in horror as the pile came crashing down. He cringed at the sound it made, and the sigh he heard leave his father’s lips. Now he was going to get it, he could sense it. He had been good up to this point; his father hadn’t said anything about the night before. Nothing along the lines of ‘Why is my thirteen year old son sneaking out and getting drunk?’ and Danny was grateful. But now he’d gone and put his foot in it, literally.

“The Butler did it,” he said with his best ‘please don’t discipline me’ smile he could muster. This was a common phrase the two had shared whenever one did something the other disapproved of. The most memorable being when Danny was seven years old, and his father had held a door open for a woman. Danny, afraid that the lady would replace the position of being his mother, had denied the woman passage, and his clearly embarrassed father was left red faced in the middle of the medical centre, the woman intent on telling the entire building how rude his son was.

His father didn’t even smile, he only put down the shovel he had been transporting to the junk pile and leaned on the hilt. The bottoms of his dark jeans spotted with mud and filth.

“You need a bath, mate,” he said, picking up the shovel again, and slinging it over his shoulder, tapping gently on the handle with his fingertips, and giving his son a look that resembled the expression of one after they’ve uttered a long, tired, sigh.

Danny did not have to be told twice, and as quickly as he could, he rushed into the house, careful not to leave muddy footprints on the carpet.

Doctor Butler dropped to his knees, his jeans now a lost cause as he began to stack the bricks again, and again, repetitive and monotonous.


:heartbeat: Pat

THE BUTLER DID IT!!! if i had that last name i would be saying that all the time. I think everyone would disown me but it would be a fair trade. Anyways loved the chapter this is going to be a really interesting story. I don't know its just the perspective of it all or something but it really is intriguing.

Looking forward for more, but take time. Don't want you feeling any pressure.

Ciao
~Claire

The Butler did it just made me smile so big! :lol: Very cute idea.

I am a complete idiot, and I didn't even realise there's a section of that chapter that didn't go through. So I edited it. Next chappie in five minutes!

:heartbeat: Pat

Chapter 2
Sweet Texas Angel

Marie was now six years old, and she could finally count her age on both hands, a milestone she was delighted to reach. Her birthday had been celebrated in the European Winter, and she was a baby born out of love. Her birthday was February 14th, and her mother had said it had been the best day of her life, and even the best of her Daddy’s.

Marie was quickly getting too big to fit in the child seat of the shopping trolley. Her long legs would kick against her mother’s and she’d laugh at how tall she was getting; she was proud to have something of her Daddy’s. Marie’s Daddy had died two years after she was born, before Marie could even remember him, all she had was a very old, damaged photo. Her mother had loved her Daddy very much.

“Bubba, sit still before I smack ya to kingdom come,” a clearly agitated Evelyn scolded at her daughter, cursing herself for leaving the shopping list in her other handbag, and having to recount the items on it for memory. She knew she had forgotten at least three things. It wasn’t the soap and it wasn’t the bread, but she was sure she had jam.

“Put those down!” she screeched, seeing what her daughter held in her hand, the naked couple on the packet making her blush red, as she looked about hoping no one had seen it. “Those aren’t for you,” she added, putting them back on the shelf, and quickly retreating into the frozen food section, frowning inwardly and scorning whoever thought it was a good idea to sell condoms where children could see them. Whoever had thought of it, clearly wasn’t a parent!

Rubbing her exposed fingers because of the cold, as she hauled out a few packets of frozen pizza, Evelyn glanced at her daughter drawing patterns on the evaporation of the freezer, and smiled. She was glad to have had her, Marie had been one of the best things Evelyn had ever done in her life. The only thing for her to be proud of.

“I knew I recognised you!” a vaguely familiar voice called from behind the thin woman who was soon going to be victim of hyperthermia due to her stupor. Evelyn turned around; the warm, welcoming grin she was used to faking spread over her features as she closed the fridge door expertly, and put the boxes in the trolley, knowing Marie would soon be occupied by reading the ingredients of each one, even though they were all the same. She had been gloating lately that she was the only girl in Year one yellow who could read the whole alphabet and write original stories, though one of them described an Indian boy with a magic carpet who found a magic genie in a lamp, and Evelyn wasn’t that convinced that it was original.

The six year old muttered words under her breath, becoming immersed in the writing, as Evelyn racked her brains to place this stranger’s face. He clearly knew her, and she recognised the voice, but as she stared and listened, it occurred to her that it seemed to come from so far away, from so long ago.

“Oh great, love. You’ve forgotten me,” he said with a hearty laugh, which unsettled the unruly curls of his hair, making him appear comical, and causing Evelyn to laugh. Something about his smile, or the ridiculously untameable hair stirred in her memory. As if by instinct, she took the scarf she was wearing from about her neck, and put it around the man, then chuckled in delight as the memory came running back to her.

“Hugh!” she laughed, enveloping him in a hug that he returned, chuckling because she was so much smaller than him.

“I thought that someday you wound end up warming up to me, love,” he replied with a laugh, patting her back gently and winking, which earned him a playful punch on the arm from Evelyn.

She hooked her arm underneath the trolley handlebar and smiled at the man. Hugh had been a friend of hers years and years ago. He was a nomad, though originally from England, with his parent’s money securely under his arm; he would travel from place to place, leaving a mark wherever he went. He loved helping people, and they loved him helping them, though it had been a running joke of Evie’s that they just found him a clown. His hair was always the butt of jokes.

Marie was still immersed in her reading material and only nodded when Evelyn introduced her to Hugh.

Hugh shifted his weight from one leg to the other, holding his grocery basket with one hand, and Evelyn had to suppress a laugh at seeing it contained shampoo, a can of deodorant and a pair of pantyhose. He noticed what she was smirking at and blushed deep red.

“Experimenting are ya?” she asked, holding back her giggles, a hand to her mouth. Hugh dropped his head, and shook it, incredibly embarrassed.

“They’re for my mother, she only buys periwinkle beige, and this is the only place that sells that colour,”

As if on cue, a middle aged woman rounded the corner of the aisle the three of them stood in and grinned excessively when she spotted Evelyn, her own hands laden with jars of raspberry, strawberry and apricot jam.

“Hello! Hello!” Mrs. Parker waved, triumphing in getting her son’s (who resembled a beetroot by this point) attention. She let all her jam jars fall into the basket he held and nodded gently at Evelyn, as if she should be thankful at having been graced by her presence. Evie was used to this; she was used to the rich and the famous because she was rarely far from them. It had been a miracle that she was even doing her grocery shopping at this time of day, usually she’d be cooped up in her office, and Marie would be at a babysitter’s. Evelyn hated her job.

The Parker’s were both rich and famous, Hugh having a trust fund well before he had even been born, and it was the same for his younger siblings, who in everyone’s opinion was much more spoilt than he. Hugh was an activist and often visited poorer countries, hoping to make a difference with the wealth that he sported. His parents had been from old English stock, and stunk of money. Thankfully, in Scotland they were just seen as ‘English prats’.

“I’m glad that ya found ‘em, it’d be a crime to deprive your mom of ‘em,” Evelyn said with her forced smile, looking a little more humble than she felt. Her accent drummed in her ears, and she could tell by the way Mrs. Parker pursed her lips that she disapproved of the Southern American drawl. “It was good seeing you,” she added, correcting her speech, and deepened her smile, watching Hugh give her an uncomfortable look. She felt incredibly sympathetic, but there was nothing she could do. He’d have to go through this hell alone.

With incentive to quickly leave the store, Evelyn hurried for the cashier, and placed her items on the belt at a frantic pace, entertaining her daughter, who sucked on a lollypop Evelyn had bought her previously. Finally paying the amount, and giving Marie the change for her piggy bank, she almost sprinted to the car park, and began to load the shopping into the boot of her car.

Danny Butler was having a gay old time annoying his father by picking out breakfast cereals he knew were bad for his health, relishing in the expressions his father put on every time he picked a new one. It was completely entertaining watching a new expression each time, all unique in their own way. It soon became a game for both of them, as the doctor began to sneer and make funny faces as they reached the end of the aisle and they rounded the next.

With a burst of immature energy the doctor picked up pace in the empty aisle with the trolley, then jumped onto the back of it, his feet on the top of the wheels; having it transport him till the middle of the aisle, Danny calling after him to have a go. Mr Butler laughed as he stopped just out of Danny’s reach each time, but was soon forced to swerve the trolley, and brake as a middle aged woman who obviously coloured her hair entered, a man following her.

Coughing, and calling Danny over to join him at the end of the aisle, hiding his embarrassment, the doctor watched the pair walk past, the woman clearly unimpressed by his immature behaviour. Noticing that they had all they needed, Danny guided his father to the cashier, behind a young woman who rushed to pay her groceries as if her life depended on it.

If he hadn’t had his wits about him, the doctor might not have noticed that she had left behind a bag filled with her shopping. After paying his own, he nudged Danny towards the car park.

“I don’t see her, Da,” Danny called from the south end of the car park, just as a navy commodore parked adjacent to him, and a family of three got out.

Mr Butler frowned, then looked across the north end, spotting the brunette.

“Danny, get to the car, I’ll be a minute, alright,” he called to his son, sprinting towards the jade car the woman loaded her groceries into, the hood of his jacket, flapping in the wind against his neck and making him pout in annoyance.

He stopped to recover his breath steps away from the six year old, who still sucked on her lollypop and looked him up and down, then back at her mother.

“You shouldn’t run in wet weather,” she told him, though her back was to him and he grinned softly at her statement.

“I aint running,” came the agitated reply from her mother, who’s head was buried in the boot, as she struggled to tie up the plastic bags.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Marie retorted, biting hard on the confectionary as Evelyn’s head emerged from the boot and she looked up at the man who loomed over her. What was it with everyone being so tall, lately?

“You left this in the store,” he said, his grin now gone, replaced by his usual ‘everything’s going to be fine, it’s just a check up’ smile. He offered her the bag and she took it apprehensively, and looked inside.

“Well, yeah, these are mine,”

He was the second male to blush in front of her today as he realised what the bag contained. The bag which contained two boxes of sanitary napkins were snapped up before his eyes and shoved into the boot without another glance.

He cleared his throat and laughed gently, scratching the back of his head. “Good day,” was all he could utter as he nodded and began to walk back to his car.

“Thankya,” she waved back. With a laugh, and a shake of her head, Evelyn closed the boot and got into the car. She started it up, and began giggling at how ridiculous this shopping trip had been.

Marie looked up at her mother, her eyes innocent as she blinked gently, her stare ever wavering. Evelyn turned off the ignition and looked back at her daughter.

“What?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Did you know that man?”

“No, I didn’t,”

“You took something he gave you,”

“It was my shopping, Bubba,” Evelyn said, turning the radio up a little, before reversing.

Marie shook her head, imitating her mother. “Hasn’t anyone taught you about stranger danger?”


:heartbeat: Pat

That was such a cute chapter. I enjoyed the immature trolley car running. Lol i laughed. And Marie was adorable with being able to count on both hands. I just thought it was great. I loved it. And then your new banner and the picture of Dear Frankie in it and i love it. I need to buy that movie. Anyways... that all there is. :shine:

Ciao
~Claire

:lol: Stranger danger. lol. And The Butler did it. Jesus, where do you come up with these things, lady?

Beautiful. I love how you're slowly introducing the characters, but its with a purpose (?) I guess... Idk.

So, new chapter soon, aye?

You really wanna kill me, don't you?

Its sad really, the assasination attempts are starting to get to me. :hug: A million times :hug: .

Te amo, chica. :heartbeat:

I just started rading your story today and I really enjoyed it! I think it is a cute story and I cant wait for more updates! Please update soon Pat!
:love:
~Kit-Kat~

Oh my gosh. Dying of laughter over the "Butler did it" comment and "stranger danger".

I'm loving this so far. Loving the characters and I can't wait to see where this story goes.

I still think I need to check out this Frankie movie that you all chat about. -_-

Aw, stranger danger just made me laugh so hard! Marie is adorable! And, how funny that the one bag she would leave behind would be the one with the 'unmentionables.' :lmao: Very funny stuff, my dear!

OMG!! Bella I adore the way you write!! Sorry I took my sweet ass time actually replying but I did read it a while ago now!! This is such a fantastic story, keep on writing it!!

Chloe xxx

wheee, I want MORE! *hugs Pat and this story* :love:

Um, what happene to the revolution? Jen's helping us out!!! But, what happened here??

:cry: