One Temporary Escape, Feel It Start To Permeate, We Lie Beneath The Stars At Night
Chapter: 3/4
Song: Young Blood- The Naked And Famous
Word Count: 7,746
Summary: 'She feels him laugh more than hears him. Her chest is pressed to his. He moves his head so they’re cheek to cheek as well and the stubble on his jaw scratches against her skin as his lips move near her ear. “You’re beautiful.” He doesn’t say it like a compliment or a line. It’s just simply a fact and an answer to her question but it makes her eyes squeezes shut with emotion as she rests her head against his shoulder. They’re not even dancing anymore. She’s leaning on him and he’s holding her.'
This is rushed even though it took me a week to write it and it's sloppy even though I've been over it countless times and I'm not really happy with it but there's no way to fix it. I don't know. I just feel like it could have been more because my first idea to write something like this story happened while I was in Florida, at Epcot, watching that light show they do every night and I was so pumped to put that moment into a story and it came out like this. I don't know. It's not awful but I'm comparing it against other things that I've written that I really loved and this is not on the same level imo. Sometimes I just need to vent. I have a lot of feeling. By the way, I want to write a Christmas thingy at some point but have no ideas so if you got one let me know. This is a team effort now lol
“I feel like you’re mad at me.”
Anna removes her sunglasses from over her eyes and slips them onto the top of her head then puts her hand above her eyes to block out the sun and squints up at him. She probably should have kept her sunglasses on.
“Are you?” He asks as he leans over her further.
She sits up in the lounge chair, moving her legs clear of the water that’s dripping off his body. He has just come out of the pool, he was talking to his friends then looked over at her like he has been doing all day and then something must have snapped in him and he got sick of the silent treatment and swam over.
“I’m not mad at you.”
He sits down on the edge of the chair and flicks his wet hair back off his forehead.
“Then why have you been sitting over here alone and not talking to anyone for the whole day?”
“I just didn’t feel like talking.”
“You’re still not talking. Not really.”
“It’s been a long day in the sun, Jared. I’m not in the mood for this right now.”
“You are mad. I didn’t call that girl.”
Anna rolls her eyes as she puts her sunglasses back on and pushes herself off the chair. “I am not mad. You’re making me mad. Are we going out tonight or what?”
Jared looks over at his friends to make sure they didn’t hear her little outburst. “We’re planning on it but…”
“Great. I’m actually going to make it out of the hotel this time so I’m going to go get ready.”
He looks like a scolded child and she sighs and puts her hands on his shoulder. It’s hot from the sun.
“I’m not mad at you.” She says again with a softer tone to her voice. It’s true. Mad is not the right word to describe what she’s feeling. “I’m going to go get ready.” She squeezes his shoulder before letting him go.
“Stay away from any liquor.” He calls out to her and she laughs loud enough to make sure his friend can hear. She wants to show them that they haven’t gotten in between the two of them just yet.
The day in the sun has left her skin more burnt than tanned and Anna has to put on a flowing dress that barely touches her skin to make her feel comfortable. It doesn’t really work. She still has to spend a prolonged amount of time with Jared and his friends and if the beautiful women by the pool are any indication of the caliber or women out at night Anna knows she can’t compete. What if she has to watch as one of them is all over Jared? What if she’s not as okay with it as she’s trying to convince everyone she is? Anna hates feeling this way. It was so much easier when she had nothing going on in her life and didn’t have to think about how other peoples thoughts and actions would impact her own. She wouldn’t mind having that back but with one knock and a “hey, Anna, you ready to go?” from Jared she gets that it’s not going to happen tonight. Tonight she must deal.
“We’re going to head West tomorrow.” Jared tells her in the booth at the club. He broke a painfully long silence that had stretched between everyone since they sat down five minutes ago. “Is that alright with you?”
“That’s fine. I’m up for anything.” Her enthusiasm was obnoxious even to her and she’s not surprised when Doug snorts out a laugh.
“Dude, what the fuck?”
“Sorry, sorry.” He apologizes in a very disingenuous way but Jared lets it slide. “Why don’t you go get us some drinks?”
“Why do I have to do it?”
“Because.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“Because I spent all afternoon running back and forth to the bar by the pool to get you drinks and now you own me.”
Jared frowns and rolls his eyes. “You’re pathetic, you know that?” He says but stands up anyways. “Do you want anything, Anna?”
“Just get me whatever.” She tells him and he stands by the table for a moment longer, like he’s deciding if he should leave her here with them or not.
His fingers drum against the back of her chair just barely touching her back before he wanders off, looking over his shoulder a few times as he does.
“So.” Doug sighs when Jared’s out of earshot and Anna sits up straighter and wishes Jared was back. “How’d you get your job?”
“What?”
“It just seems like an interesting one. Not something that everyone does. I’m just curious.”
“Ummm.” She purses her lips. “One of my college professors got it for me. Kind of. It’s kind of a long story I guess. He was friends with a friend of my boss and he knew that it would be hard for me to find a job, it’s hard for anyone to find a job and he pulls some strings and that’s that. Guess it’s not that long.” She laughs uneasily. None of the guys found her story particularly interesting.
“So do you like it?”
“It’s fine. It’s not ideal or anything but it’s a job.”
“Why is it not ideal?”
“Well it’s not what I thought I was going to do with my life.”
“You didn’t think you’d be taking pictures of peoples private moments and writing things even though you have no idea what’s really going on in their lives?”
There it is. That’s why they’re all so cold. They don’t like her job and more specifically what she had to say about Jared. They’re loyal.
“I write about what I see.”
“Yeah, things that are none of your business. How does that make you feel?”
“How does what make me feel?”
“That you’re potentially wrecking lives. You have broken up people haven’t you? What you’ve taken pictures of and written about?”
“I don’t break people up. I’m not responsible for that. The people who are doing something wrong are the ones that are responsible.”
“Nobody would know about it if it wasn’t for you.”
“But it would still be happening.”
“Don’t you think it would be better if it was handled in private instead of across some stupid magazine?”
He had a point and she pauses to consider it. She’s mulled over that little moral dilemma often.
“I don’t know what to say to you. I’m sorry that you’re upset but it’s not like I’m doing anything to you.”
“Just to people that I’m friends with.”
“If you’re talking about what I wrote about Jared then I think it’s time you let that go. I mean, he has. It’s not an issue anymore.”
“Maybe not to you it’s not. Nothing is an issue when you get paid to write about it. I bet that’s why you’re here in the first place. You’re not interested in anything more than a stupid story in your stupid magazine.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” And why the hell was it taking Jared so long to come back from the bar with their drinks?
“I’m talking about you and using him. You’re only here so you can get something you can go home and write about. He’s just another little article to you.”
“That’s not true.” She defends herself. “That’s not it at all. He invited me down here. I didn’t even want to go; he had to talk me into it.”
“Let’s think about why he had to do that. Maybe he’s the one with the idea. Maybe you’re only down here so he can sleep with you to get you to shut up about him. You can’t write about him if you’ve been with him. Isn’t that some kind of conflict of interest? Couldn't you get fired for that?”
“That’s not what’s happening.”
“I don’t know. I’ve known him for a hell of a lot longer than you have. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Anger swells inside of her. “Then you’re a real shitty friend.” She gathers her things, only thinking for the moment and not for anything else. She just needs to leaves. She can’t sit here and let him talk to her like this anymore. “I don’t believe any of that for a second.”
“Then why are you getting so upset.”
“Because you’re a fucking asshole that’s why. You’ve been nothing but a dick for me this whole time and I’ve done nothing to you. Yeah, okay, I wrote some stupid gossip about him but that’s about him, not you. It had nothing to do with you and you’re acting like a fucking child about it.”
“And you’re acting like a deluded love struck teenage girl. Wake the fuck up and see what this really is.”
“I do see what it really is. You’re jealous. He’s famous and gets shit written about him and you have to stand in the background and watch everything happen to him and you can’t do anything to get any attention. You’d be nothing about him.”
“That’s a fucking lie and you know it.”
“Do I? Or am I just making theories up as I see fit because I feel like it? How the fuck does it feel Doug?”
She pushes the chair in with her hip and turns towards the door, stopping quickly when she sees that Jared is blocking her way with his eyes wide and the drinks balancing awkwardly in his hands.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“I…” He shakes his head. “Awhile.”
“So you heard all of that?”
“Yeah.”
And he didn’t say anything. She’s speechless for a few agonizing moments.
“I have to get out of here.” She pushes past him and she hears the clanking of glass against the wooden table behind her.
“Wait, Anna, Jesus, hold on a second.”
But she’s already out the door and into the muggy Miami night. And he’s right behind her.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the hotel.” She snaps as she waits for a car to pass before she crosses the street.
“Don’t run away from me. God, you are fast in heels.” He laughs as he catches up to her in the middle of the street and she turns on him.
“Do you think this is funny? Really Jared? This is not something to laugh at. How could you do this to me? You defended me and defended me and then tonight you just let him say all that stuff and you just stood there.”
“You didn’t look like you needed my help. You had it. You said fuck multiple times so I thought you were good.”
“Well you thought wrong. And oh my god.” She shoves his chest. “Is that why I’m here? So you can sleep with me so I won’t be able to write stuff about you anymore?”
“No.” He shouts at her.
She keeps talking. “Because it won’t work. I mean, not completely because even if you and I ever sleep together, which, by the way, is never ever, ever going to happen now I am not the only one who does this kind of job. Oh!” She pushes him again.
“Will you stop doing that? People are going to think I’m attacking you or something.”
“So what?”
“So I don’t want the cops to be called when you’re just acting crazy.”
“I’m not acting crazy. Have you slept with all of the others too? Is that why I never hear that much about you? There are guys that do this job, Jesus, what do you do with them?”
“I don’t do anything with any of them and this is not why you’re here. Don’t listen to him. Why would you listen to him?”
“Because you said nothing. Like you couldn’t even defend yourself.”
“Because I didn’t think that I had to. You were saying that you didn’t believe him and that you knew it wasn’t true so I just let it go. I thought you believed me.”
“Well now I’m just…” She stops with frustration and runs a hand heavily through her hair. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“You’re letting those guys get to you. They’re telling you shit because they don’t like you.”
“I know they don’t like me you idiot, you don’t have to tell me again.”
“I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to fix this. You’re either going to accept it and move on and stay here because I want you here or you’re going to listen to the shit that they’re telling you and take off.”
“I don’t know that they’re not telling me the truth. I don’t know you Jared, how the hell do I know that I’m not here so you can use me?”
“You’re here because I like you. That is why you’re here. There aren’t any other motives going into that. I like you. Anna, I like you. What else can I say? I think you’re funny and pretty and just…god. Do you really think that I’m that awful that I would do all of this just to sleep with you for my own benefit? Do you really think that’s the kind of guy that I am because if you do then what the fuck are you even doing here? Why did you come with me?”
“I thought you were different.”
“I am different. You’re the one that doesn’t believe that and it’s fucked up. I haven’t been anything but nice to you and it has nothing to do with what you do for a living. I’m not trying to get anything from you.”
She shakes her head. People are starting to stare at them. Two crazy fools standing in the middle of the street yelling and screaming at each other. They’re a spectacle. Someone might be filming this to put on YouTube because it’s ridiculous and from an outsider’s perspective funny and for the first time Anna knows what it feels like to be in front of a camera instead of behind it. She doesn’t like it. Doug was definitely right about one thing. Her job is despicable.
“I’m going back to the hotel.” She tells him. She can’t stand them being the center of attention for a moment longer.
“I’m not coming after you.” He states, standing firmly. “I’ve already done that. A lot. I’ve begged you to stay and I’m sick of it. If you want to go then go. I’ve done what I can and if you don’t believed it then just go. We’ll forget it all.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I want you to stay but you don’t seem to understand anything that I’m saying recently so just go.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
She frowns at him for a moment and a car honks because they are standing in the middle of the road and they part ways for separate sides of the street. He turns around and walks away before she does. He’s really not coming after her.
She gets back to the hotel room and packs her things and sets her bags by the door. She’s all ready to go until it hits her that she doesn’t have the money to get home; can’t buy a ticket with money that she just doesn’t have. Anna is stuck and the bags stay by the door as she sits on the bed. A part of her doesn’t mind being stuck here because the alternative is being stuck in her apartment in New York with nothing happening except for work. At least here there is some excitement. Fights and passion fueled arguments in the middle of a busy Miami street beat sitting at home alone any day. This is what she agreed to when she came down here. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy but it would be something.
She sighs as she leans back onto the bed staring at the shadows on the ceiling until she hears commotion in the hall that lets her know that the boys are back. Anna pushes herself off the bed and opens the door. She should let Jared know that she’s staying.
His room’s a few doors down and he’s standing at the door swiping the key card, alone, thankfully, and she clears her throat.
He looks over to her then drops his eyes. “Are you getting ready to leave?”
“I’m not going Jared.”
His door pops open. “Good to hear.” He says blandly. He’s not accepting her apology like she wants him to be. But then again, she’s not really apologizing.
“Jared, I just want to say I’m sorry. Doug made me so mad and then I got mad at you and that was wrong. I shouldn’t be mad at you.”
He’s silent and she’s silently begging him to say that it’s alright.
“I’m tired. A little drunk. I’m going to bed.”
“Jared.” She whines. She wants to end this now.
“We’ll talk in the morning.”
But they don’t talk in the morning. Nobody does. Breakfast physically hurts. Doug is mad at Anna and Anna is mad at Doug and Jared is mad at the both of them and everyone has the wrong attitude for a day at Disney. They’re only saved by the overpriced alcohol that Epcot offers. Anna even has a few glasses of beer. She’s far behind his friends but the dull buzz she feels is a distraction from the tension between her and Jared, who is stone cold sober. Almost irritatingly so. She kind of wants to put a drink in his hand just to loosen him up but whenever one is presented to him he pushes it away saying that he’s the one that has to drive. He just had to gain common sense when she doesn’t want him to.
They keep their distance for the whole day, only coming together at night when everyone is pushing towards the water front to get the best view of the light show and Anna and Jared are pushed together. She tries to step away. She doesn’t want to crowd him when he’s got such obvious negative feelings for her but she only makes it a half step before she feels his hand wrap around hers. She looks up at him in shock because this is most definitely on purpose and he’s looking straight ahead and expressionless until a slow smile spreads across his face that is followed by a squeeze of her hand.
She moves closer to him as the show goes on. The fireworks reflecting off the water are beautiful and the beer is making her sleepy and she rests her head against his shoulder, testing the boundaries of how much they’ve regained friendship in such a short amount of time with no words being spoken but he shifts his shoulders to give her more room and puts an arm around her waist. Things are patched between them.
With around ten minutes left in the show he gently jostles her from her serene daze.
“We should probably get going.” He says loud enough to be heard over the music and the fireworks popping above the water.
“Why?”
“I want to beat some of this traffic. I don’t really know where I’m going to get out of here and I’d rather not have to navigate through here pissing off a bunch of Disney families.”
“But that sounds like fun to me.” She doesn’t want to leave. She’s finally enjoying herself.
“You say that because you’re not the one driving.” He takes her hand and she follows him and the rest of the guys towards the exit of the park.
She walks backwards to watch more of the show. She might not see anything like this ever again. It’s not like she gets free trips to Florida. Jared still has her hand though and he’s still dead set against staying and she’s not paying attention to where she’s going so she stumbles a little, just in time for him to steady her with an exasperated sigh of her name.
“I want to watch this.” She tells him and he shakes his head and steps in front of her.
“But the traffic.”
“Who cares about the traffic?”
“I do.”
She puts her hands on her hips and he rolls his eyes and extends his arms to put his hands on her hips then picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder with his arms holding her around her legs.
“Jared.” She yells but bursts out laughing at the same time, the alcohol in her system is making her phony anger dissipate rapidly.
“This is called a compromise.” He laughs too and readjusts her on his shoulder. “We’re making it to the car and you can still watch what you want to.”
“Right now all I can see is your ass.”
“I stand by what I said.”
She giggles loudly and hooks her fingers into the hem of his shirt and pushes herself up a little bit. “Put me down.”
“Will you promise to walk if I do?”
“I was walking before.”
“Not real walking.”
“There’s no such thing as fake walking. Just put me down, I’ll walk, I’ll walk.”
“Okay.” He lets her start to slowly slide back down to the ground, stopping her when she can rest her arms around his neck and he’s holding onto her thighs, her feet still not touching the ground. “But if you don’t its right back onto my shoulder.”
She smiles and nods and another firework goes off behind them, the white light reflects off their faces and his eyes fall from her eyes to her lips right before he kisses her.
It’s sweet and simple and when he stops he lets her feet touch the ground slowly and keeps his arm around her waist as they walk to the car, catching up with his friends who have drunkenly run ahead. She’s blushing hard and when she dares to glance up at him she sees a mirrored flush against his cheeks.
It doesn’t take him that long to realize that he has no idea where he’s going but of course, he won’t admit it and she isn’t afraid to point it out.
“We are so lost.”
“We are not.”
“Super, super, super lost. Like, lost in the backwoods of the middle of nowhere kind of lost.” Anna tells Jared from the passenger seat as he drives. He’s got both hands on the steering wheel and is sitting up straight and alert like he’s scanning the dark road for any hint of familiarity because he’s got the secret suspicion that they’ve been going in circles since they lost sight of the highway. “You should have followed the sign.”
“I didn’t need the sign when I had the GPS.”
“That ended up not working. It’s fucked up.”
“I know.” Jared grumbles as he bangs his hand against the screen. It went dark on the highway out of the park two hours ago. The noise of his hand against the screen makes the guys in the back stir. They passed out as soon as they got into the car and looking back at them not Anna has to laugh. Getting blackout drunk at Disney has got to be one of the most pathetic things she’s ever heard. She feels like she has the upper hand for the very first time because at least she stayed sober.
“So. What’s our next move?”
He frowns, not wanting to admit out loud that he has no idea where they are. “Check your phone again.”
“I already told you that I don’t have good enough reception out here to power the navigation App. Until you figure out away to get us closer to civilization it’s out of the question.”
He takes a deep breath and stares at the road intently for a few seconds. “Then I guess we drive around until we find something.”
“Huh. Okay so when we’re out here lost for the next week and a half because we’re so lost which one of those jokers do we eat first?” She says as she nods towards the backseat.
He laughs. “Whichever one isn’t 100% alcohol.”
She smiles at him. It’s moments like this one that make her happy that she didn’t leave.
He drives long enough for her to fall asleep against the window and only wakes up when he yells excitedly about an hour later.
“Oh hell yes.”
She awakes with a start and her neck aching. “What? Did you find the right way?”
“Something better.” He pulls the car into the gravel parking lot of a rundown looking bar that’s all lit up even for the late time. “I found a good time.”
“You’re gonna go inside and ask directions?”
“No, we’re gonna go inside and have fun. I’ve been driving for too long. I need a drink.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” She fights back but he’s already out of the car and opening the back door. Doug almost spills out of the car because he was leaning against the door.
“Everyone get up.” Jared shakes them. “Second wind time.”
They stumble out of the car and towards the bar and she can’t believe that even in their drunken state they’re doing whatever he says. Anna didn’t think that Jared was drunk, she only saw him have two beers and that was awhile before they left the park. It should have burned off by now. But clearly since he’s coming up with this plan and intends to follow it he has to be hammered.
“Jared.” She hops out of the car and the slamming of her door does nothing to slow their pace. It’s like they’re on a mission and she won’t be able to stop them no matter what she does. She struggles to catch up to him and when she does and stands in front of him with her hands on his arms he keeps walking so she has to walk backwards to talk. “You’re going to go in there and drink?”
“Not too much. That’s what everyone else is going to do. Including you.”
“I told you I don’t drink.”
He puts his hands on her elbows as her back hit the door of the bar. “Tonight you do. Don’t worry; I’ll stay sober enough to drive…”
“You don’t even know what that means. Do you remember the last time?”
“How could I forget that?” He smiles at her but it does nothing to calm her worries and he holds her tighter and gently shifts her out of the way and opens the door. An almost eerie glow of light and a blast of country music stream through the opening and the guys walk through. “You can stay outside if you want to Anna. But.” He laughs as he gets a good look inside the bar. It’s nothing like New York. It’s not even Nashville. “This might be the worst bar I have even been to and I am not going to miss it. Come in if you feel like it.” He shrugs and smiles again before he’s engulfed in the light and music as well.
She leans against the wall of the bar. He’s not easy and he’s not normal. He’s not an average guy. But he is endlessly fascinating and charming and makes her wonderfully dizzy. She’s going to have to accept the way that he is and stop trying to fight against it or change him. He knows what he’s doing and while he sometimes doesn’t make the clearest of decisions he knows how to have fun. It’s something that she’s sorely missing in her life. She should stick close to him.
So, with a heavy sigh and an eye roll towards the night sky she opens the door and enters the bar.
It’s brighter and livelier than the outside gives off. It’s fairly crowded and even though she’s not exactly sure where they are she’s willing to bet that this bar is the only thing to do in town.
The guys have already found a table and have a drink in their hands and Jared is at the bar all bright eyed and trying to figure out what he can get into. What he can get her into.
“Hey.” He yells enthusiastically when he sees her and throws a warm arm around her shoulder. He hasn’t had a sip to drink here but he’s already drunk on the atmosphere. “You made it in.”
“I wasn’t going to stand out there all night.” She tells him as he nods to the bartender to get her a drink.
“I’m getting you a beer.” He sees the wary look on her face and responds. “You don’t have to drink it. You can put it in front of you and look at it when the rest of them drink. I just want you to know that the option is there.” He slides the glass into her hand and puts his hand on her back to guide her to the table.
It turns out that alcohol is the answer to getting his friend to like her because thirty minutes and numerous glasses of beer later they are all over themselves trying to get her attention.
Doug flops into the chair next to her and grabs her hand clumsily in his own.
“Can I tell you how sorry I am? I am so sorry. I acted like a dick.”
“Ya think?” Anna laughs as she takes a drink from her glass. It’s the same one Jared put in her hand when she walked in and it’s already warm and bitter but any kind of talk with Doug makes her nervous.
“We’re all sorry. I don’t know. I don’t even know what I thought or why I acted the way that I acted. But I guess it’s just that Jared is like, my best friend.”
Anna glances over her shoulder to Jared. He looks concerned and amused but mostly confused and Anna laughs at him.
“No, no.” Doug pulls on her hand to get her attention. “Don’t laugh. I’m being serious here. He’s my friend and when you wrote what you wrote about him I listened to him bitch and bitch and bitch and then he kissed you that night he first met you.”
Anna’s jaw drops and her face turns red.
“Yeah, yeah, he told me.”
She feels Jared’s hand on her back as he leans in and whispers ‘I’m sorry’. She shakes her head at him, silently fuming.
“He told me a lot of stuff because after that you were all he talked about. He couldn’t figure out how to get your number so we went to like, every single party and bar in that city to try and find you and then he got your number and it was like, a thousand times worse because you didn’t call him or anything and I had to hear him pine and complain about it and it was fucking pathetic and then the car. Oh my god Anna, do you even understand the car? It was like you stabbed him in the heart repeatedly so I had to hear him bitch about that but the whole time I was like, are you kidding me? I thought he was crazy because he was so obviously crazy about you and he kept denying it and it was so annoying and I didn’t even know who you were so I couldn’t understand why or how you could do that to him, which by the way, I totally understand now because you’re really hot so I get it now but anyways, you drove him crazy and it was awful and he’s my friend so I was pissed at you and mean to you because I thought that I was helping him because someone who could do that much damage to my friend had to suck but secretly I think you’re pretty awesome and I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“I…”
“I know it was immature and stupid but I hated on you with the best intentions. Doesn’t that count for something?”
It does. He was trying to help a friend in a deeply messed up way but Anna respects it. Plus she can’t deny him forgiveness. This has been what she has been looking for.
“Doug, it’s okay.”
“Really? Are you sure? Because I said some fucked up things to you and they weren’t true. I don’t really think that you want to be with him to get dirt to write about for your job and I don’t think he wants to sleep with you to shut you up. I think he just wants to sleep with you.”
“Okay.” Jared leans around Anna and pushes Doug back into the chair. “I think that’s enough, you apologized and she accepted and everyone is happy now please god stop talking.”
He’s obviously embarrassed something that makes Anna very happy. She’s usually the one who’s unsure and tip toeing around her own feelings because she doesn’t know what he’s feeling or thinking or what he’s going to do next. But now she knows that he likes her and has for awhile. He’s talked about her non-stop, to the point of being annoying, to the point of turning a friend of his against her. It’s intense just like everything that he does.
Their moment of silent longing is interrupted when someone taps her on the shoulder and she has to turn around from Jared.
There’s a man standing behind her. He’s around her age with brown hair and tanned skin. He’s got a nice smile that’s stretched across his face showing just a hint of hesitation like he’s nervous. He’s handsome and if Jared wasn’t in the picture, as well as pulsing through her mind she might be too taken by his looks to even speak.
She finds her voice easily.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Well. I.” He stutters in a strong southern accent, much different from the soft lilting one that she’s heard from Jared. “I was just wondering if you would maybe like to…” He trails off as he shakes his head. Anna has been staring at him and that’s making him nervous but with the added pressure of Jared and all of the guys staring at him too this guy who is probably very confident on his own is now reduced to a shaky mess.
“What is it?” Anna says gently, she’s been on his side of confidence before.
“Do you want to dance with me?”
“Oh.”
Oh. That’s not what she thought was going to happen. She looks over to the beaten up dance floor, the wood paneling of it is scuffed and warn from years of use. Only a few couples are using it and what they’re doing could barely be called dancing. It’s more like leaning on the other for support so they don’t fall to the floor in a drunken heap.
“I don’t know.”
Her not giving him a flat out ‘no’ sparks something in him and his eyes light up.
“Well why not?”
Because she has Jared. Even though she doesn’t have him. She knows he likes her and she likes him but still…
“What is it?” The guy presses on. “Do you have a boyfriend or something?” He takes a brazen look around the table at all the guys.
“No. Not really.”
“Not really? What does that mean?”
Anna cringes. That was a stupid thing to say. Jared is not her boyfriend. They’re not together and liking someone doesn’t really mean anything unless those feelings are acted upon or discussed and besides a few drunken kisses, and that one that they just shared at the park that she’s still trying to get over, they haven’t been. There’s nothing deep happening. For all she knows she’s still only being viewed as a friend. Doug’s drunken rant about how Jared feels shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Until she hears it from Jared she can’t assume anything more than what she already knows.
“No. I don’t have a boyfriend. That’s what I meant. I don’t.” She shrugs and avoids eye contact with everyone at the table.
“Then what’s the harm?” He puts his hand out to her and Anna desperately misses the shy guy that was trembling in front of her just a few seconds ago.
“I guess there isn’t any but.” She stops talking when Jared’s hand is on her back again, this time pushing her up and out of her chair. She looks back at him and he nods. He wants her to go. He’s pushing her towards another man. “Okay.” She takes the guys hand with another look towards Jared. He doesn’t look any different. He’s not regretting it or doesn’t look like it’s hurting him so she directs a real smile at the guy. “I’d love to dance with you.”
She follows him out to the dance floor just as Patsy Cline’s She’s Got You twang through the bar. Travis, as she finds out, is just as sweet and gentlemanly as he looks. They dance with space separating them and one of his hands at her waist and the other in hers. It’s proper and gentle and even though he’s amazing because he’s so sweet as he really listens to her when she speaks, telling him small details about her life; small talk, the only thing she can focus on fully is the table and the girl that has taken her seat and is now closely speaking to Jared and how he’s speaking back. Is that how it’s going to be?
The song ends and the too familiar first notes of Who Are You When I’m Not Looking by Blake Shelton stream through the bar. It’s one of her favorites. And least favorite. It’s made her cry before, right after she broke up with her ex and couldn’t get through the first ten seconds without having a break down.
Travis has stopped moving and his hand falls away from her waist the other is still holding onto hers. He looks at her with a small, unsure smile, like he’s not sure what to do. Let her go or keep dancing. Anna bites her lip and looks back over to the table. Jared’s not there anymore and more alarmingly neither is the women. It reminds her of the first night that she saw him leaving with that red head and then climbing into a taxi. Except here there is no taxi. There’s only the bathroom and the car that they came in and Anna feels a wave of nausea sweep over her. Anywhere but the car. She forces a smile as she looks back at Travis. She’ll keep dancing with him for as long as Jared is gone. She doesn’t have another choice.
Anna puts her hand back on his shoulder just as Jared appears next to them and clears his throat.
“Do you mind?” He asks Travis quietly, gesturing between him and Anna and Travis gives him a small smile before stepping back. Anna’s hand falls away from his shoulder slowly.
“I figured.” Travis nods and gives Anna a kind smile and thanks her before walking off and Jared seamlessly takes his place.
He stands closer and holds her tighter; both his arms around her waist and hers are looped over his shoulders. Its very high school prom slow dance but she wouldn’t want it any other way. High school is exactly what they are.
“I didn’t like that.” He says quietly, swaying slowly with her.
“You didn’t like what?”
“You and him out here. Smiling and dancing.”
“Well then why did you make me dance with him?”
“I didn’t make you.”
“You pushed me to him. Literally.”
“I thought you wanted to. You didn’t say no.”
“I didn’t say yes either. You acted first.”
He sighs, looks away from her then back to her. “I thought he deserved it. I had been watching him watch you since you walked in.”
“He was not.”
“Was too. All the men in here are.” His eyes flick up and behind her and she looks around. She catches stares and most of them look away immediately. She moves closer to Jared, her arms constricting around his shoulders.
“I don’t know why.”
She feels him laugh more than hears him. Her chest is pressed to his. He moves his head so they’re cheek to cheek as well and the stubble on his jaw scratches against her skin as his lips move near her ear.
“You’re beautiful.” He doesn’t say it like a compliment or a line. It’s just simply a fact and an answer to her question but it makes her eyes squeezes shut with emotion as she rests her head against his shoulder. They’re not even dancing anymore. She’s leaning on him and he’s holding her.
“You didn’t like me dancing with him?”
“No.”
“I didn’t like you taking off with that girl.”
He unwraps his arms slightly and clamps his hands to her hips and pulls her back so he can look at her. “I didn’t take off with her. I took a loop around the bar so I could get away from her so I could get to you. I like you.”He admits, not for the first time but it means more at such a close proximity and with so much contact. “I really.” He stops with a smile dancing across his features and hears a sigh that leaves him light headed. “God. I really like you.”
“Jared.”
“You know this. I’ve said this before but I’ve gotten nothing from you. I’m flying blind and I hate it. You have to give me something. I’m dying.”
She’s speechless. She never thought she’d be the one stringing him along.
“Anna.” He prods her. He needs words said out loud, something she’s just awful at. She’s never been good at saying things like that; expressing deep and meaningful feelings. She can write them out. She’s able to spill every feeling she’s ever had in a long, sprawling poem or essay or story. Even a riddle of haiku. Hell, she could write it on a napkin and pass it to him.
She’s been quiet for too long and he take it the wrong way with a short uncomfortable laugh.
“Wow. Okay.”
When she realizes what’s going on he’s already letting her go but she’s still clinging to him.
“Jared, I’m not…”
She’s interrupted when attention is pulled back to the table. They’ve left them alone for too long and it’s taken a truth. Doug’s climbing onto the table and a manager from the bar is trying to talk him down while all his other friends cheer him on. Jared sighs and shakes his head but doesn’t look at her.
“We got to get them out of here or they’re all going to die of alcohol poisoning or overdose on stupidity or something like that. We have to go.”
He keeps creating distance between them and his arm finally works its way out of her tight hold.
“I’ll get them to the car. Can you ask someone for directions back? Get them to write them down if you can’t remember. Thanks.” He jumps into the chaos of his friends and she watches him slowly herd them out the door from the middle of the now empty dance floor.
Ten minutes and a fifteen step detailed instructional list complete with two diagrams written down on the back of a paper bar menu later she makes it to the car.
Jared’s back in the front seat huddled over the radio dials trying to find one that doesn’t come in as static. He doesn’t even acknowledge her when she gets in.
“Got the directions. It doesn’t seem too difficult.”
He clears his throat and starts the car. “It never is when you know where you’re going.” There’s a thinly veiled tone of discomfort and anger in his tone backed by an obvious annoyance at his friends who are all trying to sing ‘On the Road Again’. He’d like them to shut up and pass out but they keep it up for miles and miles.
“I thought they’d fall asleep in the car like babies in car seats.” She jokes because Jared hasn’t looked at her or laughed in far too long.
He keeps that going when he asks her if he takes a right or a left up ahead and nothing more.
The guys are groggy but still kicking when they get back to the hotel and it’s a joint effort between Jared and Anna to get them into the rooms. Most of them don’t even get into their own room. It starts out as an organized effort to get each guy into the right space but after ten minutes of constant struggle they decide that they don’t care if it gets messed up. If a door opens and the wrong guys wanders in that’s alright. At least they’re quiet and on the road to sleeping it off.
When everyone is tucked away back into a room it’s only Jared and Anna left in the hallway. He closes the final door and sighs when he sees Anna standing next to his door.
“That was a work out.” He says and she laughs softly as he gets closer to her. He doesn’t understand why she’s lingering like this. “So…” He trails off and jams his hands into the pockets of his jeans and watches her as her eyebrows furrow together and she bites her lip like she’s in deep thought and his eyes widen when she leans in and putting one hand on his arm to steady herself presses her lips to his. She breaks the kiss as quickly as she started it and he takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.
“Anna.” He says her name in a whisper. It sounds weak but it’s all he can do. “Do you want me to walk you to your room?” He’s trying to hold onto the southern gentleman part of him but her hand is now off his arm and moving across his chest and it’s hard to think about anything but un-gentleman like things.
“Why?” She takes a deep breath, harnessing all the confidence that she has. “Yours is so much closer.”
Song: Young Blood- The Naked And Famous
Word Count: 7,746
Summary: 'She feels him laugh more than hears him. Her chest is pressed to his. He moves his head so they’re cheek to cheek as well and the stubble on his jaw scratches against her skin as his lips move near her ear. “You’re beautiful.” He doesn’t say it like a compliment or a line. It’s just simply a fact and an answer to her question but it makes her eyes squeezes shut with emotion as she rests her head against his shoulder. They’re not even dancing anymore. She’s leaning on him and he’s holding her.'
This is rushed even though it took me a week to write it and it's sloppy even though I've been over it countless times and I'm not really happy with it but there's no way to fix it. I don't know. I just feel like it could have been more because my first idea to write something like this story happened while I was in Florida, at Epcot, watching that light show they do every night and I was so pumped to put that moment into a story and it came out like this. I don't know. It's not awful but I'm comparing it against other things that I've written that I really loved and this is not on the same level imo. Sometimes I just need to vent. I have a lot of feeling. By the way, I want to write a Christmas thingy at some point but have no ideas so if you got one let me know. This is a team effort now lol
“I feel like you’re mad at me.”
Anna removes her sunglasses from over her eyes and slips them onto the top of her head then puts her hand above her eyes to block out the sun and squints up at him. She probably should have kept her sunglasses on.
“Are you?” He asks as he leans over her further.
She sits up in the lounge chair, moving her legs clear of the water that’s dripping off his body. He has just come out of the pool, he was talking to his friends then looked over at her like he has been doing all day and then something must have snapped in him and he got sick of the silent treatment and swam over.
“I’m not mad at you.”
He sits down on the edge of the chair and flicks his wet hair back off his forehead.
“Then why have you been sitting over here alone and not talking to anyone for the whole day?”
“I just didn’t feel like talking.”
“You’re still not talking. Not really.”
“It’s been a long day in the sun, Jared. I’m not in the mood for this right now.”
“You are mad. I didn’t call that girl.”
Anna rolls her eyes as she puts her sunglasses back on and pushes herself off the chair. “I am not mad. You’re making me mad. Are we going out tonight or what?”
Jared looks over at his friends to make sure they didn’t hear her little outburst. “We’re planning on it but…”
“Great. I’m actually going to make it out of the hotel this time so I’m going to go get ready.”
He looks like a scolded child and she sighs and puts her hands on his shoulder. It’s hot from the sun.
“I’m not mad at you.” She says again with a softer tone to her voice. It’s true. Mad is not the right word to describe what she’s feeling. “I’m going to go get ready.” She squeezes his shoulder before letting him go.
“Stay away from any liquor.” He calls out to her and she laughs loud enough to make sure his friend can hear. She wants to show them that they haven’t gotten in between the two of them just yet.
The day in the sun has left her skin more burnt than tanned and Anna has to put on a flowing dress that barely touches her skin to make her feel comfortable. It doesn’t really work. She still has to spend a prolonged amount of time with Jared and his friends and if the beautiful women by the pool are any indication of the caliber or women out at night Anna knows she can’t compete. What if she has to watch as one of them is all over Jared? What if she’s not as okay with it as she’s trying to convince everyone she is? Anna hates feeling this way. It was so much easier when she had nothing going on in her life and didn’t have to think about how other peoples thoughts and actions would impact her own. She wouldn’t mind having that back but with one knock and a “hey, Anna, you ready to go?” from Jared she gets that it’s not going to happen tonight. Tonight she must deal.
“We’re going to head West tomorrow.” Jared tells her in the booth at the club. He broke a painfully long silence that had stretched between everyone since they sat down five minutes ago. “Is that alright with you?”
“That’s fine. I’m up for anything.” Her enthusiasm was obnoxious even to her and she’s not surprised when Doug snorts out a laugh.
“Dude, what the fuck?”
“Sorry, sorry.” He apologizes in a very disingenuous way but Jared lets it slide. “Why don’t you go get us some drinks?”
“Why do I have to do it?”
“Because.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“Because I spent all afternoon running back and forth to the bar by the pool to get you drinks and now you own me.”
Jared frowns and rolls his eyes. “You’re pathetic, you know that?” He says but stands up anyways. “Do you want anything, Anna?”
“Just get me whatever.” She tells him and he stands by the table for a moment longer, like he’s deciding if he should leave her here with them or not.
His fingers drum against the back of her chair just barely touching her back before he wanders off, looking over his shoulder a few times as he does.
“So.” Doug sighs when Jared’s out of earshot and Anna sits up straighter and wishes Jared was back. “How’d you get your job?”
“What?”
“It just seems like an interesting one. Not something that everyone does. I’m just curious.”
“Ummm.” She purses her lips. “One of my college professors got it for me. Kind of. It’s kind of a long story I guess. He was friends with a friend of my boss and he knew that it would be hard for me to find a job, it’s hard for anyone to find a job and he pulls some strings and that’s that. Guess it’s not that long.” She laughs uneasily. None of the guys found her story particularly interesting.
“So do you like it?”
“It’s fine. It’s not ideal or anything but it’s a job.”
“Why is it not ideal?”
“Well it’s not what I thought I was going to do with my life.”
“You didn’t think you’d be taking pictures of peoples private moments and writing things even though you have no idea what’s really going on in their lives?”
There it is. That’s why they’re all so cold. They don’t like her job and more specifically what she had to say about Jared. They’re loyal.
“I write about what I see.”
“Yeah, things that are none of your business. How does that make you feel?”
“How does what make me feel?”
“That you’re potentially wrecking lives. You have broken up people haven’t you? What you’ve taken pictures of and written about?”
“I don’t break people up. I’m not responsible for that. The people who are doing something wrong are the ones that are responsible.”
“Nobody would know about it if it wasn’t for you.”
“But it would still be happening.”
“Don’t you think it would be better if it was handled in private instead of across some stupid magazine?”
He had a point and she pauses to consider it. She’s mulled over that little moral dilemma often.
“I don’t know what to say to you. I’m sorry that you’re upset but it’s not like I’m doing anything to you.”
“Just to people that I’m friends with.”
“If you’re talking about what I wrote about Jared then I think it’s time you let that go. I mean, he has. It’s not an issue anymore.”
“Maybe not to you it’s not. Nothing is an issue when you get paid to write about it. I bet that’s why you’re here in the first place. You’re not interested in anything more than a stupid story in your stupid magazine.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” And why the hell was it taking Jared so long to come back from the bar with their drinks?
“I’m talking about you and using him. You’re only here so you can get something you can go home and write about. He’s just another little article to you.”
“That’s not true.” She defends herself. “That’s not it at all. He invited me down here. I didn’t even want to go; he had to talk me into it.”
“Let’s think about why he had to do that. Maybe he’s the one with the idea. Maybe you’re only down here so he can sleep with you to get you to shut up about him. You can’t write about him if you’ve been with him. Isn’t that some kind of conflict of interest? Couldn't you get fired for that?”
“That’s not what’s happening.”
“I don’t know. I’ve known him for a hell of a lot longer than you have. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Anger swells inside of her. “Then you’re a real shitty friend.” She gathers her things, only thinking for the moment and not for anything else. She just needs to leaves. She can’t sit here and let him talk to her like this anymore. “I don’t believe any of that for a second.”
“Then why are you getting so upset.”
“Because you’re a fucking asshole that’s why. You’ve been nothing but a dick for me this whole time and I’ve done nothing to you. Yeah, okay, I wrote some stupid gossip about him but that’s about him, not you. It had nothing to do with you and you’re acting like a fucking child about it.”
“And you’re acting like a deluded love struck teenage girl. Wake the fuck up and see what this really is.”
“I do see what it really is. You’re jealous. He’s famous and gets shit written about him and you have to stand in the background and watch everything happen to him and you can’t do anything to get any attention. You’d be nothing about him.”
“That’s a fucking lie and you know it.”
“Do I? Or am I just making theories up as I see fit because I feel like it? How the fuck does it feel Doug?”
She pushes the chair in with her hip and turns towards the door, stopping quickly when she sees that Jared is blocking her way with his eyes wide and the drinks balancing awkwardly in his hands.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“I…” He shakes his head. “Awhile.”
“So you heard all of that?”
“Yeah.”
And he didn’t say anything. She’s speechless for a few agonizing moments.
“I have to get out of here.” She pushes past him and she hears the clanking of glass against the wooden table behind her.
“Wait, Anna, Jesus, hold on a second.”
But she’s already out the door and into the muggy Miami night. And he’s right behind her.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the hotel.” She snaps as she waits for a car to pass before she crosses the street.
“Don’t run away from me. God, you are fast in heels.” He laughs as he catches up to her in the middle of the street and she turns on him.
“Do you think this is funny? Really Jared? This is not something to laugh at. How could you do this to me? You defended me and defended me and then tonight you just let him say all that stuff and you just stood there.”
“You didn’t look like you needed my help. You had it. You said fuck multiple times so I thought you were good.”
“Well you thought wrong. And oh my god.” She shoves his chest. “Is that why I’m here? So you can sleep with me so I won’t be able to write stuff about you anymore?”
“No.” He shouts at her.
She keeps talking. “Because it won’t work. I mean, not completely because even if you and I ever sleep together, which, by the way, is never ever, ever going to happen now I am not the only one who does this kind of job. Oh!” She pushes him again.
“Will you stop doing that? People are going to think I’m attacking you or something.”
“So what?”
“So I don’t want the cops to be called when you’re just acting crazy.”
“I’m not acting crazy. Have you slept with all of the others too? Is that why I never hear that much about you? There are guys that do this job, Jesus, what do you do with them?”
“I don’t do anything with any of them and this is not why you’re here. Don’t listen to him. Why would you listen to him?”
“Because you said nothing. Like you couldn’t even defend yourself.”
“Because I didn’t think that I had to. You were saying that you didn’t believe him and that you knew it wasn’t true so I just let it go. I thought you believed me.”
“Well now I’m just…” She stops with frustration and runs a hand heavily through her hair. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“You’re letting those guys get to you. They’re telling you shit because they don’t like you.”
“I know they don’t like me you idiot, you don’t have to tell me again.”
“I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to fix this. You’re either going to accept it and move on and stay here because I want you here or you’re going to listen to the shit that they’re telling you and take off.”
“I don’t know that they’re not telling me the truth. I don’t know you Jared, how the hell do I know that I’m not here so you can use me?”
“You’re here because I like you. That is why you’re here. There aren’t any other motives going into that. I like you. Anna, I like you. What else can I say? I think you’re funny and pretty and just…god. Do you really think that I’m that awful that I would do all of this just to sleep with you for my own benefit? Do you really think that’s the kind of guy that I am because if you do then what the fuck are you even doing here? Why did you come with me?”
“I thought you were different.”
“I am different. You’re the one that doesn’t believe that and it’s fucked up. I haven’t been anything but nice to you and it has nothing to do with what you do for a living. I’m not trying to get anything from you.”
She shakes her head. People are starting to stare at them. Two crazy fools standing in the middle of the street yelling and screaming at each other. They’re a spectacle. Someone might be filming this to put on YouTube because it’s ridiculous and from an outsider’s perspective funny and for the first time Anna knows what it feels like to be in front of a camera instead of behind it. She doesn’t like it. Doug was definitely right about one thing. Her job is despicable.
“I’m going back to the hotel.” She tells him. She can’t stand them being the center of attention for a moment longer.
“I’m not coming after you.” He states, standing firmly. “I’ve already done that. A lot. I’ve begged you to stay and I’m sick of it. If you want to go then go. I’ve done what I can and if you don’t believed it then just go. We’ll forget it all.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I want you to stay but you don’t seem to understand anything that I’m saying recently so just go.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
She frowns at him for a moment and a car honks because they are standing in the middle of the road and they part ways for separate sides of the street. He turns around and walks away before she does. He’s really not coming after her.
She gets back to the hotel room and packs her things and sets her bags by the door. She’s all ready to go until it hits her that she doesn’t have the money to get home; can’t buy a ticket with money that she just doesn’t have. Anna is stuck and the bags stay by the door as she sits on the bed. A part of her doesn’t mind being stuck here because the alternative is being stuck in her apartment in New York with nothing happening except for work. At least here there is some excitement. Fights and passion fueled arguments in the middle of a busy Miami street beat sitting at home alone any day. This is what she agreed to when she came down here. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy but it would be something.
She sighs as she leans back onto the bed staring at the shadows on the ceiling until she hears commotion in the hall that lets her know that the boys are back. Anna pushes herself off the bed and opens the door. She should let Jared know that she’s staying.
His room’s a few doors down and he’s standing at the door swiping the key card, alone, thankfully, and she clears her throat.
He looks over to her then drops his eyes. “Are you getting ready to leave?”
“I’m not going Jared.”
His door pops open. “Good to hear.” He says blandly. He’s not accepting her apology like she wants him to be. But then again, she’s not really apologizing.
“Jared, I just want to say I’m sorry. Doug made me so mad and then I got mad at you and that was wrong. I shouldn’t be mad at you.”
He’s silent and she’s silently begging him to say that it’s alright.
“I’m tired. A little drunk. I’m going to bed.”
“Jared.” She whines. She wants to end this now.
“We’ll talk in the morning.”
But they don’t talk in the morning. Nobody does. Breakfast physically hurts. Doug is mad at Anna and Anna is mad at Doug and Jared is mad at the both of them and everyone has the wrong attitude for a day at Disney. They’re only saved by the overpriced alcohol that Epcot offers. Anna even has a few glasses of beer. She’s far behind his friends but the dull buzz she feels is a distraction from the tension between her and Jared, who is stone cold sober. Almost irritatingly so. She kind of wants to put a drink in his hand just to loosen him up but whenever one is presented to him he pushes it away saying that he’s the one that has to drive. He just had to gain common sense when she doesn’t want him to.
They keep their distance for the whole day, only coming together at night when everyone is pushing towards the water front to get the best view of the light show and Anna and Jared are pushed together. She tries to step away. She doesn’t want to crowd him when he’s got such obvious negative feelings for her but she only makes it a half step before she feels his hand wrap around hers. She looks up at him in shock because this is most definitely on purpose and he’s looking straight ahead and expressionless until a slow smile spreads across his face that is followed by a squeeze of her hand.
She moves closer to him as the show goes on. The fireworks reflecting off the water are beautiful and the beer is making her sleepy and she rests her head against his shoulder, testing the boundaries of how much they’ve regained friendship in such a short amount of time with no words being spoken but he shifts his shoulders to give her more room and puts an arm around her waist. Things are patched between them.
With around ten minutes left in the show he gently jostles her from her serene daze.
“We should probably get going.” He says loud enough to be heard over the music and the fireworks popping above the water.
“Why?”
“I want to beat some of this traffic. I don’t really know where I’m going to get out of here and I’d rather not have to navigate through here pissing off a bunch of Disney families.”
“But that sounds like fun to me.” She doesn’t want to leave. She’s finally enjoying herself.
“You say that because you’re not the one driving.” He takes her hand and she follows him and the rest of the guys towards the exit of the park.
She walks backwards to watch more of the show. She might not see anything like this ever again. It’s not like she gets free trips to Florida. Jared still has her hand though and he’s still dead set against staying and she’s not paying attention to where she’s going so she stumbles a little, just in time for him to steady her with an exasperated sigh of her name.
“I want to watch this.” She tells him and he shakes his head and steps in front of her.
“But the traffic.”
“Who cares about the traffic?”
“I do.”
She puts her hands on her hips and he rolls his eyes and extends his arms to put his hands on her hips then picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder with his arms holding her around her legs.
“Jared.” She yells but bursts out laughing at the same time, the alcohol in her system is making her phony anger dissipate rapidly.
“This is called a compromise.” He laughs too and readjusts her on his shoulder. “We’re making it to the car and you can still watch what you want to.”
“Right now all I can see is your ass.”
“I stand by what I said.”
She giggles loudly and hooks her fingers into the hem of his shirt and pushes herself up a little bit. “Put me down.”
“Will you promise to walk if I do?”
“I was walking before.”
“Not real walking.”
“There’s no such thing as fake walking. Just put me down, I’ll walk, I’ll walk.”
“Okay.” He lets her start to slowly slide back down to the ground, stopping her when she can rest her arms around his neck and he’s holding onto her thighs, her feet still not touching the ground. “But if you don’t its right back onto my shoulder.”
She smiles and nods and another firework goes off behind them, the white light reflects off their faces and his eyes fall from her eyes to her lips right before he kisses her.
It’s sweet and simple and when he stops he lets her feet touch the ground slowly and keeps his arm around her waist as they walk to the car, catching up with his friends who have drunkenly run ahead. She’s blushing hard and when she dares to glance up at him she sees a mirrored flush against his cheeks.
It doesn’t take him that long to realize that he has no idea where he’s going but of course, he won’t admit it and she isn’t afraid to point it out.
“We are so lost.”
“We are not.”
“Super, super, super lost. Like, lost in the backwoods of the middle of nowhere kind of lost.” Anna tells Jared from the passenger seat as he drives. He’s got both hands on the steering wheel and is sitting up straight and alert like he’s scanning the dark road for any hint of familiarity because he’s got the secret suspicion that they’ve been going in circles since they lost sight of the highway. “You should have followed the sign.”
“I didn’t need the sign when I had the GPS.”
“That ended up not working. It’s fucked up.”
“I know.” Jared grumbles as he bangs his hand against the screen. It went dark on the highway out of the park two hours ago. The noise of his hand against the screen makes the guys in the back stir. They passed out as soon as they got into the car and looking back at them not Anna has to laugh. Getting blackout drunk at Disney has got to be one of the most pathetic things she’s ever heard. She feels like she has the upper hand for the very first time because at least she stayed sober.
“So. What’s our next move?”
He frowns, not wanting to admit out loud that he has no idea where they are. “Check your phone again.”
“I already told you that I don’t have good enough reception out here to power the navigation App. Until you figure out away to get us closer to civilization it’s out of the question.”
He takes a deep breath and stares at the road intently for a few seconds. “Then I guess we drive around until we find something.”
“Huh. Okay so when we’re out here lost for the next week and a half because we’re so lost which one of those jokers do we eat first?” She says as she nods towards the backseat.
He laughs. “Whichever one isn’t 100% alcohol.”
She smiles at him. It’s moments like this one that make her happy that she didn’t leave.
He drives long enough for her to fall asleep against the window and only wakes up when he yells excitedly about an hour later.
“Oh hell yes.”
She awakes with a start and her neck aching. “What? Did you find the right way?”
“Something better.” He pulls the car into the gravel parking lot of a rundown looking bar that’s all lit up even for the late time. “I found a good time.”
“You’re gonna go inside and ask directions?”
“No, we’re gonna go inside and have fun. I’ve been driving for too long. I need a drink.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” She fights back but he’s already out of the car and opening the back door. Doug almost spills out of the car because he was leaning against the door.
“Everyone get up.” Jared shakes them. “Second wind time.”
They stumble out of the car and towards the bar and she can’t believe that even in their drunken state they’re doing whatever he says. Anna didn’t think that Jared was drunk, she only saw him have two beers and that was awhile before they left the park. It should have burned off by now. But clearly since he’s coming up with this plan and intends to follow it he has to be hammered.
“Jared.” She hops out of the car and the slamming of her door does nothing to slow their pace. It’s like they’re on a mission and she won’t be able to stop them no matter what she does. She struggles to catch up to him and when she does and stands in front of him with her hands on his arms he keeps walking so she has to walk backwards to talk. “You’re going to go in there and drink?”
“Not too much. That’s what everyone else is going to do. Including you.”
“I told you I don’t drink.”
He puts his hands on her elbows as her back hit the door of the bar. “Tonight you do. Don’t worry; I’ll stay sober enough to drive…”
“You don’t even know what that means. Do you remember the last time?”
“How could I forget that?” He smiles at her but it does nothing to calm her worries and he holds her tighter and gently shifts her out of the way and opens the door. An almost eerie glow of light and a blast of country music stream through the opening and the guys walk through. “You can stay outside if you want to Anna. But.” He laughs as he gets a good look inside the bar. It’s nothing like New York. It’s not even Nashville. “This might be the worst bar I have even been to and I am not going to miss it. Come in if you feel like it.” He shrugs and smiles again before he’s engulfed in the light and music as well.
She leans against the wall of the bar. He’s not easy and he’s not normal. He’s not an average guy. But he is endlessly fascinating and charming and makes her wonderfully dizzy. She’s going to have to accept the way that he is and stop trying to fight against it or change him. He knows what he’s doing and while he sometimes doesn’t make the clearest of decisions he knows how to have fun. It’s something that she’s sorely missing in her life. She should stick close to him.
So, with a heavy sigh and an eye roll towards the night sky she opens the door and enters the bar.
It’s brighter and livelier than the outside gives off. It’s fairly crowded and even though she’s not exactly sure where they are she’s willing to bet that this bar is the only thing to do in town.
The guys have already found a table and have a drink in their hands and Jared is at the bar all bright eyed and trying to figure out what he can get into. What he can get her into.
“Hey.” He yells enthusiastically when he sees her and throws a warm arm around her shoulder. He hasn’t had a sip to drink here but he’s already drunk on the atmosphere. “You made it in.”
“I wasn’t going to stand out there all night.” She tells him as he nods to the bartender to get her a drink.
“I’m getting you a beer.” He sees the wary look on her face and responds. “You don’t have to drink it. You can put it in front of you and look at it when the rest of them drink. I just want you to know that the option is there.” He slides the glass into her hand and puts his hand on her back to guide her to the table.
It turns out that alcohol is the answer to getting his friend to like her because thirty minutes and numerous glasses of beer later they are all over themselves trying to get her attention.
Doug flops into the chair next to her and grabs her hand clumsily in his own.
“Can I tell you how sorry I am? I am so sorry. I acted like a dick.”
“Ya think?” Anna laughs as she takes a drink from her glass. It’s the same one Jared put in her hand when she walked in and it’s already warm and bitter but any kind of talk with Doug makes her nervous.
“We’re all sorry. I don’t know. I don’t even know what I thought or why I acted the way that I acted. But I guess it’s just that Jared is like, my best friend.”
Anna glances over her shoulder to Jared. He looks concerned and amused but mostly confused and Anna laughs at him.
“No, no.” Doug pulls on her hand to get her attention. “Don’t laugh. I’m being serious here. He’s my friend and when you wrote what you wrote about him I listened to him bitch and bitch and bitch and then he kissed you that night he first met you.”
Anna’s jaw drops and her face turns red.
“Yeah, yeah, he told me.”
She feels Jared’s hand on her back as he leans in and whispers ‘I’m sorry’. She shakes her head at him, silently fuming.
“He told me a lot of stuff because after that you were all he talked about. He couldn’t figure out how to get your number so we went to like, every single party and bar in that city to try and find you and then he got your number and it was like, a thousand times worse because you didn’t call him or anything and I had to hear him pine and complain about it and it was fucking pathetic and then the car. Oh my god Anna, do you even understand the car? It was like you stabbed him in the heart repeatedly so I had to hear him bitch about that but the whole time I was like, are you kidding me? I thought he was crazy because he was so obviously crazy about you and he kept denying it and it was so annoying and I didn’t even know who you were so I couldn’t understand why or how you could do that to him, which by the way, I totally understand now because you’re really hot so I get it now but anyways, you drove him crazy and it was awful and he’s my friend so I was pissed at you and mean to you because I thought that I was helping him because someone who could do that much damage to my friend had to suck but secretly I think you’re pretty awesome and I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“I…”
“I know it was immature and stupid but I hated on you with the best intentions. Doesn’t that count for something?”
It does. He was trying to help a friend in a deeply messed up way but Anna respects it. Plus she can’t deny him forgiveness. This has been what she has been looking for.
“Doug, it’s okay.”
“Really? Are you sure? Because I said some fucked up things to you and they weren’t true. I don’t really think that you want to be with him to get dirt to write about for your job and I don’t think he wants to sleep with you to shut you up. I think he just wants to sleep with you.”
“Okay.” Jared leans around Anna and pushes Doug back into the chair. “I think that’s enough, you apologized and she accepted and everyone is happy now please god stop talking.”
He’s obviously embarrassed something that makes Anna very happy. She’s usually the one who’s unsure and tip toeing around her own feelings because she doesn’t know what he’s feeling or thinking or what he’s going to do next. But now she knows that he likes her and has for awhile. He’s talked about her non-stop, to the point of being annoying, to the point of turning a friend of his against her. It’s intense just like everything that he does.
Their moment of silent longing is interrupted when someone taps her on the shoulder and she has to turn around from Jared.
There’s a man standing behind her. He’s around her age with brown hair and tanned skin. He’s got a nice smile that’s stretched across his face showing just a hint of hesitation like he’s nervous. He’s handsome and if Jared wasn’t in the picture, as well as pulsing through her mind she might be too taken by his looks to even speak.
She finds her voice easily.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Well. I.” He stutters in a strong southern accent, much different from the soft lilting one that she’s heard from Jared. “I was just wondering if you would maybe like to…” He trails off as he shakes his head. Anna has been staring at him and that’s making him nervous but with the added pressure of Jared and all of the guys staring at him too this guy who is probably very confident on his own is now reduced to a shaky mess.
“What is it?” Anna says gently, she’s been on his side of confidence before.
“Do you want to dance with me?”
“Oh.”
Oh. That’s not what she thought was going to happen. She looks over to the beaten up dance floor, the wood paneling of it is scuffed and warn from years of use. Only a few couples are using it and what they’re doing could barely be called dancing. It’s more like leaning on the other for support so they don’t fall to the floor in a drunken heap.
“I don’t know.”
Her not giving him a flat out ‘no’ sparks something in him and his eyes light up.
“Well why not?”
Because she has Jared. Even though she doesn’t have him. She knows he likes her and she likes him but still…
“What is it?” The guy presses on. “Do you have a boyfriend or something?” He takes a brazen look around the table at all the guys.
“No. Not really.”
“Not really? What does that mean?”
Anna cringes. That was a stupid thing to say. Jared is not her boyfriend. They’re not together and liking someone doesn’t really mean anything unless those feelings are acted upon or discussed and besides a few drunken kisses, and that one that they just shared at the park that she’s still trying to get over, they haven’t been. There’s nothing deep happening. For all she knows she’s still only being viewed as a friend. Doug’s drunken rant about how Jared feels shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Until she hears it from Jared she can’t assume anything more than what she already knows.
“No. I don’t have a boyfriend. That’s what I meant. I don’t.” She shrugs and avoids eye contact with everyone at the table.
“Then what’s the harm?” He puts his hand out to her and Anna desperately misses the shy guy that was trembling in front of her just a few seconds ago.
“I guess there isn’t any but.” She stops talking when Jared’s hand is on her back again, this time pushing her up and out of her chair. She looks back at him and he nods. He wants her to go. He’s pushing her towards another man. “Okay.” She takes the guys hand with another look towards Jared. He doesn’t look any different. He’s not regretting it or doesn’t look like it’s hurting him so she directs a real smile at the guy. “I’d love to dance with you.”
She follows him out to the dance floor just as Patsy Cline’s She’s Got You twang through the bar. Travis, as she finds out, is just as sweet and gentlemanly as he looks. They dance with space separating them and one of his hands at her waist and the other in hers. It’s proper and gentle and even though he’s amazing because he’s so sweet as he really listens to her when she speaks, telling him small details about her life; small talk, the only thing she can focus on fully is the table and the girl that has taken her seat and is now closely speaking to Jared and how he’s speaking back. Is that how it’s going to be?
The song ends and the too familiar first notes of Who Are You When I’m Not Looking by Blake Shelton stream through the bar. It’s one of her favorites. And least favorite. It’s made her cry before, right after she broke up with her ex and couldn’t get through the first ten seconds without having a break down.
Travis has stopped moving and his hand falls away from her waist the other is still holding onto hers. He looks at her with a small, unsure smile, like he’s not sure what to do. Let her go or keep dancing. Anna bites her lip and looks back over to the table. Jared’s not there anymore and more alarmingly neither is the women. It reminds her of the first night that she saw him leaving with that red head and then climbing into a taxi. Except here there is no taxi. There’s only the bathroom and the car that they came in and Anna feels a wave of nausea sweep over her. Anywhere but the car. She forces a smile as she looks back at Travis. She’ll keep dancing with him for as long as Jared is gone. She doesn’t have another choice.
Anna puts her hand back on his shoulder just as Jared appears next to them and clears his throat.
“Do you mind?” He asks Travis quietly, gesturing between him and Anna and Travis gives him a small smile before stepping back. Anna’s hand falls away from his shoulder slowly.
“I figured.” Travis nods and gives Anna a kind smile and thanks her before walking off and Jared seamlessly takes his place.
He stands closer and holds her tighter; both his arms around her waist and hers are looped over his shoulders. Its very high school prom slow dance but she wouldn’t want it any other way. High school is exactly what they are.
“I didn’t like that.” He says quietly, swaying slowly with her.
“You didn’t like what?”
“You and him out here. Smiling and dancing.”
“Well then why did you make me dance with him?”
“I didn’t make you.”
“You pushed me to him. Literally.”
“I thought you wanted to. You didn’t say no.”
“I didn’t say yes either. You acted first.”
He sighs, looks away from her then back to her. “I thought he deserved it. I had been watching him watch you since you walked in.”
“He was not.”
“Was too. All the men in here are.” His eyes flick up and behind her and she looks around. She catches stares and most of them look away immediately. She moves closer to Jared, her arms constricting around his shoulders.
“I don’t know why.”
She feels him laugh more than hears him. Her chest is pressed to his. He moves his head so they’re cheek to cheek as well and the stubble on his jaw scratches against her skin as his lips move near her ear.
“You’re beautiful.” He doesn’t say it like a compliment or a line. It’s just simply a fact and an answer to her question but it makes her eyes squeezes shut with emotion as she rests her head against his shoulder. They’re not even dancing anymore. She’s leaning on him and he’s holding her.
“You didn’t like me dancing with him?”
“No.”
“I didn’t like you taking off with that girl.”
He unwraps his arms slightly and clamps his hands to her hips and pulls her back so he can look at her. “I didn’t take off with her. I took a loop around the bar so I could get away from her so I could get to you. I like you.”He admits, not for the first time but it means more at such a close proximity and with so much contact. “I really.” He stops with a smile dancing across his features and hears a sigh that leaves him light headed. “God. I really like you.”
“Jared.”
“You know this. I’ve said this before but I’ve gotten nothing from you. I’m flying blind and I hate it. You have to give me something. I’m dying.”
She’s speechless. She never thought she’d be the one stringing him along.
“Anna.” He prods her. He needs words said out loud, something she’s just awful at. She’s never been good at saying things like that; expressing deep and meaningful feelings. She can write them out. She’s able to spill every feeling she’s ever had in a long, sprawling poem or essay or story. Even a riddle of haiku. Hell, she could write it on a napkin and pass it to him.
She’s been quiet for too long and he take it the wrong way with a short uncomfortable laugh.
“Wow. Okay.”
When she realizes what’s going on he’s already letting her go but she’s still clinging to him.
“Jared, I’m not…”
She’s interrupted when attention is pulled back to the table. They’ve left them alone for too long and it’s taken a truth. Doug’s climbing onto the table and a manager from the bar is trying to talk him down while all his other friends cheer him on. Jared sighs and shakes his head but doesn’t look at her.
“We got to get them out of here or they’re all going to die of alcohol poisoning or overdose on stupidity or something like that. We have to go.”
He keeps creating distance between them and his arm finally works its way out of her tight hold.
“I’ll get them to the car. Can you ask someone for directions back? Get them to write them down if you can’t remember. Thanks.” He jumps into the chaos of his friends and she watches him slowly herd them out the door from the middle of the now empty dance floor.
Ten minutes and a fifteen step detailed instructional list complete with two diagrams written down on the back of a paper bar menu later she makes it to the car.
Jared’s back in the front seat huddled over the radio dials trying to find one that doesn’t come in as static. He doesn’t even acknowledge her when she gets in.
“Got the directions. It doesn’t seem too difficult.”
He clears his throat and starts the car. “It never is when you know where you’re going.” There’s a thinly veiled tone of discomfort and anger in his tone backed by an obvious annoyance at his friends who are all trying to sing ‘On the Road Again’. He’d like them to shut up and pass out but they keep it up for miles and miles.
“I thought they’d fall asleep in the car like babies in car seats.” She jokes because Jared hasn’t looked at her or laughed in far too long.
He keeps that going when he asks her if he takes a right or a left up ahead and nothing more.
The guys are groggy but still kicking when they get back to the hotel and it’s a joint effort between Jared and Anna to get them into the rooms. Most of them don’t even get into their own room. It starts out as an organized effort to get each guy into the right space but after ten minutes of constant struggle they decide that they don’t care if it gets messed up. If a door opens and the wrong guys wanders in that’s alright. At least they’re quiet and on the road to sleeping it off.
When everyone is tucked away back into a room it’s only Jared and Anna left in the hallway. He closes the final door and sighs when he sees Anna standing next to his door.
“That was a work out.” He says and she laughs softly as he gets closer to her. He doesn’t understand why she’s lingering like this. “So…” He trails off and jams his hands into the pockets of his jeans and watches her as her eyebrows furrow together and she bites her lip like she’s in deep thought and his eyes widen when she leans in and putting one hand on his arm to steady herself presses her lips to his. She breaks the kiss as quickly as she started it and he takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.
“Anna.” He says her name in a whisper. It sounds weak but it’s all he can do. “Do you want me to walk you to your room?” He’s trying to hold onto the southern gentleman part of him but her hand is now off his arm and moving across his chest and it’s hard to think about anything but un-gentleman like things.
“Why?” She takes a deep breath, harnessing all the confidence that she has. “Yours is so much closer.”