Reluctant Hero
Chapter Wordcount: 1063
Priestly came back after a week of beer, bad movies, sleep and self-pity in mid-lunch rush the next Monday, and stumbled his way in the door when he saw Piper and Andy shoulder to shoulder chatting about something at the end of the bar.
“What is she the new kid on the block?” he hissed as he passed Jen.
“Relax Priestly, she seems really cool.”
He glared in their direction as he tied his apron on.
“Are you…no,” Jen whispered, smirking.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she smiled.
“Hey Priestly!” Piper called, halting whatever he was going to snap back. “C’mere.”
“Hey, what…what’s up?” he asked innocently.
“Check this out,” she grinned, sliding a sketchbook across the bar, a black and white sketch of a classic Chevy Impala across the page. “Andy here’s an artist too.”
“’Cept I can’t draw people to save my soul, unlike Piper here,” she smiled, nudging her shoulder.
“You just need to practice,” Piper grinned back, slipping off the stool and walking back around the counter.
“No thanks, I think I’ll stick with cars and horses,” she grinned.
“Priestly here’s got an old Riviera,” Piper said, popping him with her hand towel, resulting in a glare.
“Sweet, I’ve got an old Firebird myself, my little Bandit,” she smiled.
He grinned back, albeit a little awkwardly before sliding her sketchbook back to her.
“Looks really cool.”
“Thanks,” she said, flipping it closed and catching sight of her watch. “Crap, I gotta get back to work, “Later guys,” she smiled, skipping out the door.
There was a chorus of byes and laters that bounced around the shop, none of which belonged to Priestly, who merely waved his hand slowly, finally sighing and pushing his way to the back to redo the stock shelves.
“Is he okay?” Piper whispered, leaning next to Jen.
“No idea, he keeps getting weird whenever she shows up, he doesn’t even know her though.”
Piper bit her lip and paused, “Do you think….maybe he likes her?”
Jen squinted. “No…I mean…”
“He’s been down ever since…you know who,” Piper said, with a tilt of her head.
“Well yea, he had her on a pedestal for years and look what she did to him.”
“True. But still, it’s been a couple months.”
“Yea, but you know him, he was turned upside down whenever he was around Tish, and he knew her, now this new girl just shows up…”
“And throws him for a loop.”
“Exactly.”
“What should we do?”
“No idea, play it cool I guess, I mean, we don’t even know if he really likes her.”
“She hit on him, that day he stormed out of here.”
“Did she? I didn’t hear what she said.”
“Oh yea, blatant come on.”
“Wow, I don’t think he’s used to that,” Jen grinned.
Piper couldn’t help but smile back, “No, he’s definitely not.”
“Poor guy,” Jen said, managing to keep a straight face for all of three seconds before they both dissolved into giggles.
***
Priestly headed down by the shore that night, right as the sky changed from the pink of sunset to the mottled purple of dusk.
He picked his way up a rock outcropping, slipping into an alcove that you couldn’t see unless you were in the water and no one would know was there unless they went crawling around.
Needless to say, as many times as he had gone there to think he had never ran into any body else.
Which made it all the more awkward when Andy came over the side.
“Oh, shit,” she stumbled, foot slipping against the wet rock. “Hey, you scared me, didn’t know anyone else knew about this spot.”
He would never admit that he jumped a little when she broke the silence, catching himself with his hands before brushing sand off his palms.
“It’s…it’s okay.”
“Sorry,” she grinned, turning and beginning to climb back out of the small area.
“Wait,” he said softly, swallowing when his voice cracked, “It’s okay…you can stay…if you want.”
“Really? I mean, I don’t wanna like…bug you or anything.”
“No,” he smirked, “It’s okay, really.”
She nodded, “Cool.”
She picked her way back down the slippery rocks, settling down in the sand next to him.
“Priestly right?”
“Yea.”
“Andy,” she said, extending her hand, “Didn’t really get the proper introduction. Remind me to yell at Piper and Jen for that.”
Priestly cracked a smile and shook her hand.
“They tell me you just moved here, where ya from?”
“Planet Earth,” she grinned. “Just needed to…get a fresh start,” she finished softly, smile fading fast as she looked away and out at the ocean.
He squinted, noting her sudden change of mood and looked back out over the water.
Next thing he knew she had tossed her bag behind her and laid her head on it like a pillow, stretching out in the sand, extending her legs just far enough for the waves to lap over her toes before dying against the shore.
“Why California?” he asked, after a moment of tensed silence.
She shrugged, even if he didn’t see her. “That’s where the road stopped.”
He turned to look over his shoulder at her at that comment.
“Wanderlust much?”
“Maybe,” she grinned, picking at the fraying hem of her shirt.
“What about you?”
“Lived in California my whole life. Parents are up the coast.”
“Cool.”
He made some sort of noise in his throat that she couldn’t decide was acknowledgement or dismissal.
The rumble of thunder threaded its way in between the roar of the waves and she sat back up, wiping the sand off her palms on her pants.
“You eat dinner yet?”
His brow arched when he turned to look at her. “No…”
“I’ve got some steaks thawing at my place, more than I can eat tonight. You’re more than welcome to join me.”
Something in his gut decided to betray him and sent tendrils of panic and nervousness shooting up his throat to curl and twist their way around his voice.
He stared at her, with a look he was pretty sure mimicked a deer in the headlights until the first flash of lightning sparked across the water and she broke eye contact to watch the light show.
“Sure,” he said softly, surprised by his own voice.
He might have been shit-faced scared, but her smile when she looked back at him was worth it.
***
Chapter Notes:
she drew an impala *hehe* I had to, and honestly I have no idea what kind of car Priestly has, if there was a clear screencap of it somewhere I could prolly figure it out, but not from the split second scene in the movie
and completely random and unimportant, the "from planet earth" line is actually from my first fandom, Young Americans, it was only 8 episode series that was on the WB in 2000, but I loved it lol
and incase you didnt know (and im not spoiling anything cus its not in the movie) but Priestlys backstory is that he was raised by very strict, fundamentally Christian, upstanding parents, home schooled, very tight upbringing...which is kinda why hes as out there as he is, sorta his rebellion (which is why i have the line in Chap1 about being under his father's thumb, and in this chap where he kind of dismisses Andy's comment about his parents being in Cali as being cool)....and no, I didnt make that up, that backstory is from Betsy the writer herself (but I made up the part of them living in Cali)
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