Riot In My Heart: Chapter 1
Title: Riot In My Heart
Author: isisizabel
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Pairing: Nate/Jenny; Chuck/Blair
Rating: R
Author's Note: This is the next, and final, installment of the Can't Stay Away series. If you haven't read any of those fics, I recommend it so you don't get lost. The other's are:
1.) Can't Stay Away
2.) Ashes & Ice
3.) This Love, This Hate
4.) Adventures In Summerland
This fic will have multiple NC-17 chapters. If you haven't read my fics before, I members only lock my NC-17 chapters. To be able to read them you must join evening_ground.
Riot In My Heart
By: IsisIzabel
Chapter 1
“Wow. That’s really good.”
Jenny’s head snapped up as she was startled out of her concentration. She looked up from her seat to see a boy with dark hair and dark blue eyes staring down at her and the sketchpad on the table. She blushed, fighting the instinctive urge to cover the most recent dress design she was working on.
“Um, thanks.”
The boy took a step back, smiling at her with an even row of white teeth. “I’m sorry. I swear I’m not a stalker or something. I just …”
Jenny smiled politely, her eyes flickering around the coffee shop. She hadn’t even heard him come in. She liked working the evening shift at the gallery’s little coffee shop in the basement. She was hardly ever bothered and could work on her designs in quiet.
“It’s really OK,” she assured him, getting to her feet in one fluid movement. She winced slightly. Her left knee was stiff from being tucked under her body on the chair. “Did you need something?”
“Uh … coffee?” he asked with a grin.
She nodded, smiling. “Right. One coffee coming up.”
She moved around behind the counter, her fingers skimming the edge of the counter as she rounded the corner and went to the ready coffee pot. She poured it into a disposable cup and handed it to him.
“That’s one-fifty,” she told him. She glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye. It was nearly ten o’clock. Almost time to close.
“Keep the change,” he replied, handing over several dollars.
“Thanks.” She put all the money in the register.
The boy turned slowly, his eyes taking in the décor and structure of the basement café. “This is a great place.”
Jenny’s lips curved into a wide smile and she followed his gaze. Her father really had done an amazing job with the place. “Thanks. My dad owns the gallery.”
He turned back to her, his eyes sparkling. “Ah. The boss’ daughter?”
She laughed then. “Most people call me Jenny.”
He extended a hand. “Scott.”
She smiled genuinely as his hand closed over hers, the calluses making his hands rough. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” He let her hand go and took a drink of his coffee, nodding appreciatively. “This is good.”
“Thanks,” she said brightly, shrugging. She couldn’t take much credit for scooping out the already ground beans from their canister and flipping the brew switch.
Smiling politely, she headed back for her table.
“I just moved here a few months ago,” Scott went on, unfazed by her walking away.
She sat slowly, glancing up at him with curious eyes. “Oh?”
He smiled back sheepishly. “I still get lost on the subway. Kind of why I ended up … here. I saw the sign saying you had coffee and …” He shrugged helplessly, his cheeks flushing slightly.
Her lips quirked, but she suppressed the grin threatening to split her face. “Where we you trying to go?”
He groaned, sinking into the chair across from her. “Back to school. I’m a freshman at NYU.”
She brightened. “My brother and my friend both go there. I take it you’re staying in the dorms?”
“Off campus housing,” he replied, taking another sip. “My parents arranged for me to stay at an apartment a few blocks away that their friends are subletting.”
She leaned back, mildly impressed. Housing wasn’t cheap in that section of town. Not that housing anywhere in New York City could be described as cheap. “Where were you coming from?”
“Grand Central,” he muttered, looking even more embarrassed.
Jenny tilted her head back and laughed. “And somehow you wound up in Brooklyn?”
His jaw dropped open in astonishment. “I’m in Brooklyn?”
She was still giggling when her phone started to ring and vibrate animatedly across the wooden tabletop. She grabbed it, her face warming when she identified the caller. She glanced up at Scott. “Just a second.”
He nodded, leaning back in his chair and drinking his coffee. He seemed content to wait.
Jenny flipped open her phone and pressed the ‘talk’ button. “Hey, you.”
“Hey, babe.” Nate’s voice was gentle and warm, like melted honey.
“What’s up?” she asked, crossing her legs. She and Nate were still adjusting to him being in the dorms and not being able to see each other on a daily basis. It was more of a struggle than she thought it would be. She hadn’t realized how much she took for granted seeing him every day until it was gone.
“Just taking a quick study break. I figured you’d be slow now since it’s almost closing time.”
Her eyes flicked up to Scott, who didn’t seem to be paying attention to her at the moment. In fact, he stood up and walked to a painting across the room. “Just about ready to close up.”
“Sounds exciting,” he said with a quiet chuckle that left her toes curling.
Damn, she missed him. And it had only been six days since she had seen him. She sighed into the phone, wishing he was right beside her and not in his dorm nearly an hour away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concern lacing his tone.
She shook her head. He knew her too well. “Just missing you.”
He smiled into the phone. “I was thinking I could leave right after my last class on Friday morning. I could be in the city before three. We’d have the whole weekend.”
She let her eyes slide shut. “That sounds perfect.”
“Who painted this one?”
Jenny’s eyes opened and she twisted in her seat to see Scott had wandered to the painting behind her. She smiled slightly upon recognizing the art. “My mom.”
“What?” Nate laughed.
She chuckled. “Sorry. Not you, Nate. Someone else is here.”
“Oh, yeah? Who?”
“Scott,” she answered.
He laughed, amused. “Who is Scott?”
Jenny smirked in Scott’s direction. “He got lost on his way back to NYU and came in for a coffee a minute before you called.”
Scott turned impishly, ducking his head. “Do I need to leave?”
Jenny waved a hand at him. “You’re fine.”
“Good,” he said, looking relieved. “I was hoping to get directions back to NYU from you before I left.”
She laughed. “No problem.”
“Now I’m lost,” Nate commented lightly.
“He needs directions back to school, and I need to close up. Can I call you when I get home?”
“You better,” he said, a teasing smile in his voice.
She bit her lower lip. “OK. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Jenny. Bye.”
“Bye,” she repeated and ended the conversation. She stood up, putting her phone back on the table and facing Scott. “OK, let’s get you back home.”
Ten minutes later, she walked him to the front of her gallery, confident he knew where he was going. She shivered as Scott pushed open the front door and a chilly blast of September night air swept over her.
“Wow, it got cold,” she commented, watching as Scott hesitated.
He turned back to her. “So, I swear this isn’t a line, but can I have your number?”
Jenny held her breath, unsure of what to say next. “Um…”
“It’s just,” he started, beginning to blush, “in case I get lost on my way back. I don’t really know anyone else…”
She laughed and nodded. “Sure.” She gave him her number and waved. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” he smiled warmly at her and raised his cup of coffee. “And thanks for the coffee.”
She ducked her head and started back inside to close up the coffee shop. Her dad rounded the corner as she closed the door.
“Oh, hey, there you are.”
She turned and looked up at him expectantly.
Rufus frowned. “What were you doing outside?”
Her lips quirked upwards. “Smoke break?”
“Ha ha,” he deadpanned. “I thought you abhorred smokers.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess hanging out at all those fashion shows and with all those models who smoke has been rubbing off on me.”
His gaze narrowed. “Keep in mind you still need my permission to home school yourself and keep attending said fashion shows.”
She laughed and held up her hands, surrendering. “OK, OK. I was giving a lost college student directions.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said, starting for the café. “He came in for a coffee. Got lost going to NYU from Grand Central.”
Rufus made a pitying face. “Seriously?”
She nodded, moving behind the counter and starting to empty coffee pots in the sink. “That’s what I said, too. He seemed nice enough.”
“Does Mr. Nice Guy have a first name?” Rufus asked slowly.
“Scott,” Jenny answered. She turned back around and froze. “What?”
“What what?” Rufus looked away from his daughter quickly. He busily wiped an invisible spot on a table with a napkin he snagged from the dispenser on the table.
“Dad, come on,” Jenny said, rolling her eyes. “Nate’s only been gone six days, and he’s coming home this weekend.”
“Oh, he is?” He still refused to look up.
“I thought you liked Nate.”
Now he did look at her, his expression sincere. “I do like Nate, Jen. But he’s eighteen and you’re only sixteen. Don’t you think you guys are a little young to be so serious?”
Jenny took a deep breath, trying not to overreact. “I love Nate, and he loves me, Dad.”
“I know that, honey.” He threw the napkin away and came to stand in front of her on the other side of the counter.
“Then what else matters? We’re happy.”
Rufus tried not to frown. “I just-”
“How old were you when you fell in love with Lily?” she challenged, arching her brows.
Rufus hesitated. “Nineteen.”
“A year older than Nate,” Jenny mused, her expression pointed. “And Lily was eighteen, right?”
He shifted. “Yes.”
“And you two are getting married next month,” she added softly. “You knew when you were our age who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.”
“It took Lily and I almost two decades to get our lives sorted out enough to be where we are today,” Rufus interjected, leaning his forearms on the counter. “We both made a lot of mistakes on the way.”
“Well, Nate and I aren’t you and Lily, Dad,” she said calmly. “We know we want to be together now and forever. Maybe if you and Lily had admitted that when you were younger you would have already been together.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he acquiesced. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Jen.”
Her smile was blinding brilliant and confident. “Nate would never hurt me, Dad, and I wouldn’t ever hurt him. Trust me.”
Author: isisizabel
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Pairing: Nate/Jenny; Chuck/Blair
Rating: R
Author's Note: This is the next, and final, installment of the Can't Stay Away series. If you haven't read any of those fics, I recommend it so you don't get lost. The other's are:
1.) Can't Stay Away
2.) Ashes & Ice
3.) This Love, This Hate
4.) Adventures In Summerland
This fic will have multiple NC-17 chapters. If you haven't read my fics before, I members only lock my NC-17 chapters. To be able to read them you must join evening_ground.
Riot In My Heart
By: IsisIzabel
Chapter 1
“Wow. That’s really good.”
Jenny’s head snapped up as she was startled out of her concentration. She looked up from her seat to see a boy with dark hair and dark blue eyes staring down at her and the sketchpad on the table. She blushed, fighting the instinctive urge to cover the most recent dress design she was working on.
“Um, thanks.”
The boy took a step back, smiling at her with an even row of white teeth. “I’m sorry. I swear I’m not a stalker or something. I just …”
Jenny smiled politely, her eyes flickering around the coffee shop. She hadn’t even heard him come in. She liked working the evening shift at the gallery’s little coffee shop in the basement. She was hardly ever bothered and could work on her designs in quiet.
“It’s really OK,” she assured him, getting to her feet in one fluid movement. She winced slightly. Her left knee was stiff from being tucked under her body on the chair. “Did you need something?”
“Uh … coffee?” he asked with a grin.
She nodded, smiling. “Right. One coffee coming up.”
She moved around behind the counter, her fingers skimming the edge of the counter as she rounded the corner and went to the ready coffee pot. She poured it into a disposable cup and handed it to him.
“That’s one-fifty,” she told him. She glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye. It was nearly ten o’clock. Almost time to close.
“Keep the change,” he replied, handing over several dollars.
“Thanks.” She put all the money in the register.
The boy turned slowly, his eyes taking in the décor and structure of the basement café. “This is a great place.”
Jenny’s lips curved into a wide smile and she followed his gaze. Her father really had done an amazing job with the place. “Thanks. My dad owns the gallery.”
He turned back to her, his eyes sparkling. “Ah. The boss’ daughter?”
She laughed then. “Most people call me Jenny.”
He extended a hand. “Scott.”
She smiled genuinely as his hand closed over hers, the calluses making his hands rough. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” He let her hand go and took a drink of his coffee, nodding appreciatively. “This is good.”
“Thanks,” she said brightly, shrugging. She couldn’t take much credit for scooping out the already ground beans from their canister and flipping the brew switch.
Smiling politely, she headed back for her table.
“I just moved here a few months ago,” Scott went on, unfazed by her walking away.
She sat slowly, glancing up at him with curious eyes. “Oh?”
He smiled back sheepishly. “I still get lost on the subway. Kind of why I ended up … here. I saw the sign saying you had coffee and …” He shrugged helplessly, his cheeks flushing slightly.
Her lips quirked, but she suppressed the grin threatening to split her face. “Where we you trying to go?”
He groaned, sinking into the chair across from her. “Back to school. I’m a freshman at NYU.”
She brightened. “My brother and my friend both go there. I take it you’re staying in the dorms?”
“Off campus housing,” he replied, taking another sip. “My parents arranged for me to stay at an apartment a few blocks away that their friends are subletting.”
She leaned back, mildly impressed. Housing wasn’t cheap in that section of town. Not that housing anywhere in New York City could be described as cheap. “Where were you coming from?”
“Grand Central,” he muttered, looking even more embarrassed.
Jenny tilted her head back and laughed. “And somehow you wound up in Brooklyn?”
His jaw dropped open in astonishment. “I’m in Brooklyn?”
She was still giggling when her phone started to ring and vibrate animatedly across the wooden tabletop. She grabbed it, her face warming when she identified the caller. She glanced up at Scott. “Just a second.”
He nodded, leaning back in his chair and drinking his coffee. He seemed content to wait.
Jenny flipped open her phone and pressed the ‘talk’ button. “Hey, you.”
“Hey, babe.” Nate’s voice was gentle and warm, like melted honey.
“What’s up?” she asked, crossing her legs. She and Nate were still adjusting to him being in the dorms and not being able to see each other on a daily basis. It was more of a struggle than she thought it would be. She hadn’t realized how much she took for granted seeing him every day until it was gone.
“Just taking a quick study break. I figured you’d be slow now since it’s almost closing time.”
Her eyes flicked up to Scott, who didn’t seem to be paying attention to her at the moment. In fact, he stood up and walked to a painting across the room. “Just about ready to close up.”
“Sounds exciting,” he said with a quiet chuckle that left her toes curling.
Damn, she missed him. And it had only been six days since she had seen him. She sighed into the phone, wishing he was right beside her and not in his dorm nearly an hour away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concern lacing his tone.
She shook her head. He knew her too well. “Just missing you.”
He smiled into the phone. “I was thinking I could leave right after my last class on Friday morning. I could be in the city before three. We’d have the whole weekend.”
She let her eyes slide shut. “That sounds perfect.”
“Who painted this one?”
Jenny’s eyes opened and she twisted in her seat to see Scott had wandered to the painting behind her. She smiled slightly upon recognizing the art. “My mom.”
“What?” Nate laughed.
She chuckled. “Sorry. Not you, Nate. Someone else is here.”
“Oh, yeah? Who?”
“Scott,” she answered.
He laughed, amused. “Who is Scott?”
Jenny smirked in Scott’s direction. “He got lost on his way back to NYU and came in for a coffee a minute before you called.”
Scott turned impishly, ducking his head. “Do I need to leave?”
Jenny waved a hand at him. “You’re fine.”
“Good,” he said, looking relieved. “I was hoping to get directions back to NYU from you before I left.”
She laughed. “No problem.”
“Now I’m lost,” Nate commented lightly.
“He needs directions back to school, and I need to close up. Can I call you when I get home?”
“You better,” he said, a teasing smile in his voice.
She bit her lower lip. “OK. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Jenny. Bye.”
“Bye,” she repeated and ended the conversation. She stood up, putting her phone back on the table and facing Scott. “OK, let’s get you back home.”
Ten minutes later, she walked him to the front of her gallery, confident he knew where he was going. She shivered as Scott pushed open the front door and a chilly blast of September night air swept over her.
“Wow, it got cold,” she commented, watching as Scott hesitated.
He turned back to her. “So, I swear this isn’t a line, but can I have your number?”
Jenny held her breath, unsure of what to say next. “Um…”
“It’s just,” he started, beginning to blush, “in case I get lost on my way back. I don’t really know anyone else…”
She laughed and nodded. “Sure.” She gave him her number and waved. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” he smiled warmly at her and raised his cup of coffee. “And thanks for the coffee.”
She ducked her head and started back inside to close up the coffee shop. Her dad rounded the corner as she closed the door.
“Oh, hey, there you are.”
She turned and looked up at him expectantly.
Rufus frowned. “What were you doing outside?”
Her lips quirked upwards. “Smoke break?”
“Ha ha,” he deadpanned. “I thought you abhorred smokers.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess hanging out at all those fashion shows and with all those models who smoke has been rubbing off on me.”
His gaze narrowed. “Keep in mind you still need my permission to home school yourself and keep attending said fashion shows.”
She laughed and held up her hands, surrendering. “OK, OK. I was giving a lost college student directions.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said, starting for the café. “He came in for a coffee. Got lost going to NYU from Grand Central.”
Rufus made a pitying face. “Seriously?”
She nodded, moving behind the counter and starting to empty coffee pots in the sink. “That’s what I said, too. He seemed nice enough.”
“Does Mr. Nice Guy have a first name?” Rufus asked slowly.
“Scott,” Jenny answered. She turned back around and froze. “What?”
“What what?” Rufus looked away from his daughter quickly. He busily wiped an invisible spot on a table with a napkin he snagged from the dispenser on the table.
“Dad, come on,” Jenny said, rolling her eyes. “Nate’s only been gone six days, and he’s coming home this weekend.”
“Oh, he is?” He still refused to look up.
“I thought you liked Nate.”
Now he did look at her, his expression sincere. “I do like Nate, Jen. But he’s eighteen and you’re only sixteen. Don’t you think you guys are a little young to be so serious?”
Jenny took a deep breath, trying not to overreact. “I love Nate, and he loves me, Dad.”
“I know that, honey.” He threw the napkin away and came to stand in front of her on the other side of the counter.
“Then what else matters? We’re happy.”
Rufus tried not to frown. “I just-”
“How old were you when you fell in love with Lily?” she challenged, arching her brows.
Rufus hesitated. “Nineteen.”
“A year older than Nate,” Jenny mused, her expression pointed. “And Lily was eighteen, right?”
He shifted. “Yes.”
“And you two are getting married next month,” she added softly. “You knew when you were our age who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.”
“It took Lily and I almost two decades to get our lives sorted out enough to be where we are today,” Rufus interjected, leaning his forearms on the counter. “We both made a lot of mistakes on the way.”
“Well, Nate and I aren’t you and Lily, Dad,” she said calmly. “We know we want to be together now and forever. Maybe if you and Lily had admitted that when you were younger you would have already been together.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he acquiesced. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Jen.”
Her smile was blinding brilliant and confident. “Nate would never hurt me, Dad, and I wouldn’t ever hurt him. Trust me.”