The Green Grass, And A Radio, Watching It Fly Past, Then Away We Go
Oh, hello there, welcome to my story where I write and write and NOTHING happens. I got nothing. Suck. That's it. I also don't know when and where to end this so if anyone wants to help, Beth, Andrea, i'm looking at you, Beth and Andrea, that would be great, thanks.
Chapter 3/how the hell should I know, I just write this shit
She's pretty sure that they're something. She doesn't know what, they haven't kissed and the words 'date' or 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' haven't' been said but for every strike against them being something, three's two strikes for them.
She leans on him when they're sitting on the couch, he takes her hand when they're out and she's showing him around and they stand close together when they cook in the kitchen and he'll bump into her and she'll bump into him and they both try so hard to act like it's an accident that they overdo it and they know it was on purpose. She grazes his arm as she reaches across him to grab something and his hand rests on her hip as he leans up to grab a glass from the cupboard.
They spend about 90% of their time together glancing at each other, acting like they're not, and blushing.
They're close, but not close enough. Every night they go to bed on their own, by themselves and the more days that pass, the more restless she gets.
She'd move first but what if he's just like that? Friendly and flirty and it's nothing deeper.
"Why won't he kiss me?" Hayden whines as she sits across from Janie at the table at the restaurant.
"Awww." Janie sighs. "Maybe he's scared."
"Why would he be scared?"
"I don't know, maybe it's because he's been wanting to kiss you for so long and now that he has the chance he's afraid to. It's like he's reverting back to that six year old and he doesn't know how to do anything else."
"That's so lame."
"Why don't you kiss him?"
"Because....i'm..." She looks down at her hands. "Scared."
"Ha!"
"It's not our fault." She defends herself and him. "Time screwed us over."
"Then fix it. Go kiss him."
"You're right." She gets up from the table. "I'm just going to go home and kiss him. I know he wants to kiss me and he's just stupid like me and one of us has to be less stupid than the other and I guess that's going to be me."
"Good for you."
"Yeah. I'm going to go now. I'm going to go and i'm going to kiss him."
"Yes." Janie tells her. "That's the right thing to do."
"I know. Wish me luck."
"Good luck."
Hayden gets back home and as soon as she gets the door closed she calls his name. He comes out of his room and his clothes are wrinkled and he looks sleepy, like he just woke up from a nap and it's adorable and anything that she might have had planned to say to him as a set up to the kiss is forgotten and he looks at her curiously as she walks across the room to him. She's halfway to him when the phone rings and she acts on instinct and picks it up, halting her progress.
"Hello?"
"Hi." It's a women's voice that Hayden doesn't recognize. "Is Lee there?" She asks and Hayden thinks her voice sounds trampy and she frowns.
"Yeah. He's right here." She tells the women, clearly annoyed and Lee's even more curious. She tosses the phone at him and he barely catches it.
"Hello?" He questions into the phone and his eyes widen when he hears the women's voice and Hayden scoffs and goes to sit down on the couch in a huff.
He ducks back into his room and shuts the door.
Two minutes later he's back out, standing awkwardly next to her with the phone still in his hand.
"That was...." He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "I don't know her."
"She knew you." She says shortly. She's not hiding her jealousy at all.
"I know. I mean I know her but I don't know her. She's this girl that one of my friends wanted me to call for the longest time and I kept telling him no because she's not my type but I guess he's too much of an asshole to get that and he must've figured that I wouldn't pick up my phone so he gave her this number that I only gave to my parents and my brother and i'm pretty sure that my parents didn't give my friend the number so that means it was Mike and i'm going to call him and my friend and tell them what douche bags they are." He takes a deep breath.
"Okay." Hayden says flatly and Lee keeps looking at her like he's expecting more from her. "You have the phone."
"Right." He mumbles as he takes a few steps back and shakes his head in frustration and Hayden uncrosses her arms and turns on the TV and it's so passive aggressive it almost hurts.
She feels like she needs to even the playing field. She thinks she needs to make him feel a little jealous. Apparently she's both stupid and immature.
He had this thing with that girl, it was totally innocent and she gets that and buys that so she wants to have an innocent, jealousy inducing thing with someone as well.
She accepts the offer from a guy that she works with and they plan for a date the next night.
Hayden comes out of her room in the fancy dress that he saw that first day that he moved in and he immediately takes notice.
"Where are you going? You look nice, beautiful." He rushes out. "Are you going somewhere?" He cringes and shakes his head slightly.
"I have a date." She says as she stands in front of the mirror by the door, putting in her earrings and adjusting her hair one last time.
"Oh."
That's the sound that she wanted to hear. Hidden feelings bubbling to the surface on their own without any filter. It's satisfying.
"He's going to be here to pick me up in like.." She looks at the clock on the oven in the kitchen. "Five minutes." She glances over at him. He's standing up now, he looks shaken and pale, like this is a really big deal to him and she thinks that maybe she took it too far. He clearly doesn't want her to go out tonight and that's really all that she wanted. She's about to ask him if he's okay when he grabs his sweatshirt and keys off the table and walks past her to the door.
"I almost forgot, i'm meeting some friends tonight at this place." He shrugs. "I should probably go."
Lie. It's a lie and he knows that she knows it but he doesn't care.
She narrows her eyes at him and surprisingly he doesn't break contact.
"Do you even know where you're going?"
"Yeah. I've been here for a few weeks, I know my way around." He assures her. It's another lie but this time it's one that she doesn't know. She doesn't know that he'd be literally lost without her and he sometimes gets lost going into the studio.
"Well I hope you have fun."
"Yeah." He opens the door and awkwardly struggles into his hoodie. "You too."
"Don't wait up for me." She calls after him after him as he moves out the door. It's one last knife that she suddenly has the urge to dig into him.
He appears in the doorway again, his hand still on the door knob. "Don't wait up for me either. I might not even come home, I don't know who's going to be there so..." He trials off and shrugs and she exhales loudly in disbelief.
"Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks." He tells her and he leaves for good and the door shuts and she feels defeated. Beat at her own game and she's so over all of it. She doesn't even want to go out now. The whole night is ruined because he bested her and now he's out, probably at a bar somewhere because that's the only place that he could go, meeting people, women, and that's extremely off putting. This is not how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to make him burn a little, go out with this guy, have a decent time in her pretty dress, come back to the apartment, let the guy kiss her on the cheek and then he was supposed to leave with no intention of ever seeing her again and then she was going to go inside and Lee would be there, waiting, and he'd kiss her without saying a word.
That's how it should've gone and that's shot to hell.
She sighs and sits down at the kitchen table, her fingers drumming impatiently on the surface as she waits for a knock at the door.
He hates himself. He didn't handle that well at all. There are no friends, there's no wondering who's going to be there, there's no bar. There's nothing but the crowded streets and the strong feelings of failure that are quickly taking a hold of him.
He has no idea where he's going or where he should go and he's not even thinking about the option of going to some random bar and drowning his stupid, self inflicted sorrows until he can't think at all and ends up going home with some equally random and stupid girl who would try and ultimately fail to make him feel better because all he can think about is Hayden in that dress, the one that she was saving for a special occasion, and how she picked this date with this guy as that occasion. It sucks. He should've acted differently and he didn't and now she's out on a clear path and he's carefully navigating around downtown L.A at 8 o'clock at night, alone and disappointed.
He makes it to the studio by accident. Just pure dumb luck and he writes and plays for a little while. Tries to clear his head but everything that he does is laced with bitterness and he thinks it's all crap and he throws all the paper, scribbled with lyrics at the trash can and wills himself to forget the melody's and notes that went along with them so he's not tempted to come back to them.
He gives up on that and winds up lying down on the old, beat up couch that almost seems out of place in the shiny studio. He can't stop his mind from racing and he covers his hands with his face like that could make him disappear.
Meanwhile she's still stuck at home, lying on her own couch, one heel on, one off, feet on the coffee table, watching some shitty show on TV.
She waited for her date. She waited for ten minutes after the set time, most guys are late anyways. Then it stretched to fifteen and twenty and then it's forty five minutes later and she's given up on the knock and she's waiting for a phone call from him saying that there was a family emergency or he's at the hospital because he got into a car accident, nothing serious but enough for him to not come and pick her up.
But she gets nothing and she walks sadly over to the couch and sits down feeling nothing but self pity.
Her dress is wrinkled and she's one episode of The Jersey Shore away from jumping off the balcony or sticking her head in the over when the door opens and Lee walks through.
He couldn't stay away for that long. He decided that he didn't care when she got home, he wanted to be there for it.
She wants to curl into a ball and die because she has to look like the most pathetic creature on the planet.
"I thought you had a date?" He questions and it comes off totally callous and it's not what he meant. He should've started with 'how was your date?' so he could've at least played along with what she was doing. Give her an out.
"I did." She says simply. She twirls her hair around her finger, her arm resting over her head.
"What happened?" His voice is gentle and that makes everything worse.
"I...." She sighs heavily. "I don't want to talk about it." She turns slightly, just a little bit so she doesn't have to put much effort into it because she doesn't have much to give. "How was your night?"
"I don't want to talk about it." He says.
"Perfect." She mumbles and he walks back to his room to ditch his keys and sweatshirt.
He comes back into the living room slowly, he's not sure if she wants him anywhere near her.
"Did you eat dinner." It's a stupid question but it goes with everything that's happened for him tonight.
"No." She says loudly, like it's the most obvious thing in the world and it kind of it.
"Do you want anything? I'm kind of hungry."
"I don't want to eat. " She says quietly and he looks at her on the couch, looking so pretty and sad, and then goes into the kitchen.
She hears the fridge open and her stomach growls because she hasn't eaten much all day because she was saving her appetite for the restaurant that she was supposed to be at right now and she stands up and joins him in the kitchen.
He's got bread and peanut butter and jelly on the counter.
"You want me to make you one?"
She sighs and leans on the counter, shifting her weight from foot to foot, her one missing heel making her seem taller then shorter every time she moves.
"I guess. If it's not too much trouble."
He smiles. "It's not."
"Okay." She mumbles and she finally steps out of the shoe and kicks it back to the couch. She can't be bothered to pick it up. "I'm going to go change."
"You don't have to." He tells her quickly. "I mean, you said you wanted to wear it so..."
She runs her hands over the front of the dress, doing her best to smooth it out. "No offense, but this is not the kind of situation that I imagined wearing it in."
"None taken." He tells her and she walks off to her room.
She comes back out in jean shorts and a concert tee from a band that he's never heard of before and she makes a mental note to ask her about it when they're both not so pathetic.
"I can make you something else." He says when she gets back to his side. "Years of watching The Food Network have given me some considerable skills."
That makes her smile and she reaches around him, taking the knife from his hand and spreads peanut butter on the other slice of bread.
"I think this is a peanut butter and jelly kind of a night."
They eat standing up over the sink. They don't think they deserve the comfort of a chair of the stability of a plate.
When they're done she sits up on the counter, her arms wrapped around her leg that's folded up onto the counter and she's watching him clean up what little mess they made. He's just tied up the bread bag when he turns to her.
"I didn't have plans tonight." The truth spills out of him and she knew that but it sounds different when he says it. "I made it up. I didn't like that you were going to be on a date because I don't want you dating anyone."
"It wasn't really a date." She says quietly, staring down at the floor.
"I'm sorry. That wasn't right. That guy's a douche."
"It's okay. It happens."
"It shouldn't. What kind of guys do you usually date Hayden?"
She looks up at him, annoyed and endeared by his worry. "Just guys Lee. That's what guys do. Sometimes they're great and other times they disappoint." She shrugs. "It's no big deal. Girls do it to guys too."
"No. Guys shouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't do that to you."
She takes his hand and pulls him closer. "I know you wouldn't. I like that you turned out like that." She tells him with a smile. "I only set up this date because I was jealous that that girl called you. I'm immature and stupid."
He breathes out a laugh. "I'm doubly stupid and immature. I got lost tonight."
She thinks he means figuratively, like he wasn't sure what he wanted or something but then it hits her and she laughs. "You got lost?"
He lets go of her hand and covers his face with it, embarrassed. "I still don't know where the hell I am in this city. I always get lost. By some miracle I found the studio and went there."
She laughs and kicks at him harmlessly. "Unbelievable Lee."
He shakes his head and puts his hand on her knee but then takes it off and places it on the counter next to her.
"Don't set up any more dates."
She runs her finger across the back of his hand. "Only if you don't pretend to go out when you have no where to be."
"I can do that." He says and his hand slips away from the counter and he goes back to cleaning up and she kicks her legs against the cabinets and feels a little down because there was still no kiss.
A few days later she comes home from work and when she turns around after shutting the door he's coming out of his room in a suit, his fingers pulling at his tie, straightening it.
"Wow. You taking someone to prom?"
"Kind of. Go get dressed."
"What?"
"Go get dressed. Put on that dress."
Her face breaks into a smile. "Why?"
"I'm taking you out. Go get fancy."
She runs her hands through her hair. It's gone flat throughout the day and she's going to need some time to get ready.
"I need to shower."
"Okay, that's okay."
"I won't be long."
"Take your time. The reservation isn't for another hour and a half."
"Reservation?"
"I planned this out."
Her face hurts from smiling so had and she walks back to her room and as she passes him she stops and puts her hand on his wrist and leans up to kiss his cheek.
"Thank you."
She showers and dries her hair, leaving it down and straight. She puts on her make up and sprays on some light perfume before she steps into the dress and she tries to shake off the nervous energy that's flowing through her veins.
He tells her that she's beautiful and she blushes and takes his arm as they walk out of the apartment.
"Where are we going?" She asks him when they get to the car.
"It's a surprise."
"Is it somewhere nice?"
"No." He opens up her door. "I got us all dressed up and now i'm going to take us someplace really crappy." He says sarcastically .
"I'll let you surprise me then." She says as she gets into the car.
They pull up outside a well known Hollywood restaurant and she stares at the building as he gets out and hands the keys to the valet then walks over to the passenger side and opens the door for her. She doesn't move.
"C'mon."
"Famous people go here."
"Yeah." He says excitedly. "Why aren't you moving?"
"Because. Famous people go here. It's super expensive."
"So what?"
"So, when did you win the lottery? Do you have a rich uncle that I don't know about or something?"
"I have money now. I have enough."
"How?"
"Recording contract Hayden."
"Well." She gets out of the car. "You say that you have a recording contract . You say you're at the studio and that you can play the guitar and sing but I haven't seen any of it. For I all know you're a big liar and you're running a prostitution ring or something."
He laughs. "I'm not doing that."
"Then you are the prostitute. Some kind of weird, reverse Pretty Women thing."
"I'm not a prostitute and would you stop talking about whores here?"
"I'm just trying to keep it classy Lee. Most of the people in there have probably either been, or have been with prostitute."
"I don't remember reading that on the review." He leads her into the restaurant with his hand on the small of her back.
At the table while he's looking through the menu she's scanning the room looking for celebrities.
"You see anything you like?" He asks her and she glances at him and then back around the room.
"No. No famous people here tonight."
"I meant on the menu."
"I know what you meant." She says lightly as she picks up the menu. "So let's say that you do have a contract and that you can sing."
"I have and can do that."
She puts her hands up. "Prove it."
"I will."
"Well until you do i'm going to have my doubts." He rolls his eyes and looks back at the menu. "If you are telling the truth and you get famous will you make friends with some famous hot guys?"
"I'm so glad you feel comfortable enough with me to talk about other guys on the first date."
She takes a sharp breath in and stares down at the menu.
"Did I not mention that this was a date?" He asks her.
"Not officially."
"This is a date. Officially."
"Okay." She smiles and looks up at him. "Now what about these hot guys?"
He sighs. "I'll do my best."
"You know this is probably the nicest place i've ever been to." She looks around the room again. It's dimly lit, mostly by candlelight from the candles on the tables and there's a small string band playing off to the side. "That you for taking me here."
"You're welcome. Now get whatever you want to get, don't worry about the price. Seriously."
"You're sure about that?"
"Absolutely. If you don't get what you want i'm going to get it for you and eat it and you'll have to watch while I enjoy it and I won't give you any."
"Don't threaten me with food."
"I think I just did."
"Then i'm getting the most expensive thing on this menu stuffed with the second most expensive. Deal with that."
"I will."
The fight ends in smiles and she ends up getting lobster, and glares at him while she orders it and he really doesn't care because he meant what he said and he gets steak.
He honestly doesn't think about the price, even when he gets the check and it's more than he's ever spent on anything besides rent and a car, because he knows that it's all worth it.
As they're waiting for the valet to bring the car around he grabs her arm.
"We should've had desert."
"It's okay."
"No." He complains as he looks back at the restaurant. "This place is supposed to have the best chocolate cake ever."
"Lee, it's fine, i'm full anyways."
He looks at her with a tilt to his head and she frowns and rolls her eyes.
"I guess I could go for some ice cream or something."
"Dammit."
"But it's no big deal. We have ice cream at home. Let's just go there."
"I don't want to go home yet. This is our first date. I don't want it to end with us sitting at home eating ice cream out of the carton."
She raises her eyebrows. "How did you want it to end?"
"I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want it to end."
She sighs as she takes his hand and he grabs the keys from the valet and pulls open the door for her. She gets in but holds the door open so he can't close it.
"Let's go get ice cream."
"I don't know where to take you."
"I do." She puts her hand on his face trying to make him feel better. "We don't have to go home yet." She gives him a small smile and he smiles back and she closes the car door.
She has him stop at a grocery store and he parks the car and stares at her.
"This is a grocery store."
"I know that." She says as she hops out of the car and he shakes his head and laughs as he begins to follow her blindly into the store.
Once they get inside she heads right back to the frozen food section and puts her hand on her hip as she looks through the glass freezer door.
"What looks good?" She asks him but he's looking past her at the guy standing at the end of the aisle, obviously checking her out. When he doesn't respond Hayden looks at him then follows his eye line to the guy who immediately looks away when Hayden catches him looking.
"I hate that." She tells Lee.
"What?"
"People staring."
"You mean guys checking you out because that's what was just happening."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes it was. I don't blame him. You look....amazing."
"So I put on a dress and heads turn?"
"You don't have to put on a dress to look like this. You look beautiful all the time."
"Oh c'mon Lee, i'm really no big deal."
"Don't say that, it not true."
She shakes her head and changes the subject. "Which one do you like?"
He looks into the freezer with her. "Get those popsicles that you split in half and you're supposed to share but you never wanted to share with me."
"Oh my God, I was six, get over it."
"You had issues."
"You could've gotten your own popsicle." She tells him as she opens the door to the freezer and takes the box.
They open the box as soon as they're out of the store and they eat leaning against the hood of his car.
He's almost done with his when he turns to her.
"This isn't really romantic is it?"
She shrugs. "I like it."
That's enough for him.
After they finish he drives them back to the apartment and he grabs her wrist to stop her from opening the front door.
"Are you going to invite me in?"
"What?" She doesn't get it at first but then she figures that he's really committed to this first date idea and she plays along. "Sure. Why not."
"I love when girls say that to me." He tells her when she gets the door open and they walk inside.
"I bet you do." She teases him as she steps out of her heels.
"You're not going to offer me a drink or coffee or anything? What kind of date are you?" He teases back and Hayden stands with her hands on her hips, challenging him.
"I don't know, are you going to kiss me tonight?"
He looks a little surprised but recovers quickly. "You're assuming that I kiss on the first date."
"Oh please, you dated Brittany, i'm pretty sure you're used to doing anything on any date."
He laughs and takes a slow step over to her, putting his hands on her hips when he gets to her.
"What if I don't kiss you tonight?" He whispers and she pushes him away from her.
"Then i'm going to bed. I'm tired and full and you can see yourself out." She jokes over her shoulder as she walks to her bedroom but before she can get there she feels him take her hand and he pulls her back to him, his lips covering hers and she reacts right away. She kisses him back with purpose, letting her fingers tangle into his hair and her body brush against his. She backs away suddenly and doesn't drag her with him towards her room.
"That's as far as I go on the first date." She tells him and his mouth drops open but he closes it quickly.
"You're....." He stops and takes a deep controlling breath.
"I'm what?" She smirks at him.
"You're....my favorite." He finishes and she laughs to herself before she looks him over one last time and gets to her room and shuts the door.
Chapter 3/how the hell should I know, I just write this shit
She's pretty sure that they're something. She doesn't know what, they haven't kissed and the words 'date' or 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' haven't' been said but for every strike against them being something, three's two strikes for them.
She leans on him when they're sitting on the couch, he takes her hand when they're out and she's showing him around and they stand close together when they cook in the kitchen and he'll bump into her and she'll bump into him and they both try so hard to act like it's an accident that they overdo it and they know it was on purpose. She grazes his arm as she reaches across him to grab something and his hand rests on her hip as he leans up to grab a glass from the cupboard.
They spend about 90% of their time together glancing at each other, acting like they're not, and blushing.
They're close, but not close enough. Every night they go to bed on their own, by themselves and the more days that pass, the more restless she gets.
She'd move first but what if he's just like that? Friendly and flirty and it's nothing deeper.
"Why won't he kiss me?" Hayden whines as she sits across from Janie at the table at the restaurant.
"Awww." Janie sighs. "Maybe he's scared."
"Why would he be scared?"
"I don't know, maybe it's because he's been wanting to kiss you for so long and now that he has the chance he's afraid to. It's like he's reverting back to that six year old and he doesn't know how to do anything else."
"That's so lame."
"Why don't you kiss him?"
"Because....i'm..." She looks down at her hands. "Scared."
"Ha!"
"It's not our fault." She defends herself and him. "Time screwed us over."
"Then fix it. Go kiss him."
"You're right." She gets up from the table. "I'm just going to go home and kiss him. I know he wants to kiss me and he's just stupid like me and one of us has to be less stupid than the other and I guess that's going to be me."
"Good for you."
"Yeah. I'm going to go now. I'm going to go and i'm going to kiss him."
"Yes." Janie tells her. "That's the right thing to do."
"I know. Wish me luck."
"Good luck."
Hayden gets back home and as soon as she gets the door closed she calls his name. He comes out of his room and his clothes are wrinkled and he looks sleepy, like he just woke up from a nap and it's adorable and anything that she might have had planned to say to him as a set up to the kiss is forgotten and he looks at her curiously as she walks across the room to him. She's halfway to him when the phone rings and she acts on instinct and picks it up, halting her progress.
"Hello?"
"Hi." It's a women's voice that Hayden doesn't recognize. "Is Lee there?" She asks and Hayden thinks her voice sounds trampy and she frowns.
"Yeah. He's right here." She tells the women, clearly annoyed and Lee's even more curious. She tosses the phone at him and he barely catches it.
"Hello?" He questions into the phone and his eyes widen when he hears the women's voice and Hayden scoffs and goes to sit down on the couch in a huff.
He ducks back into his room and shuts the door.
Two minutes later he's back out, standing awkwardly next to her with the phone still in his hand.
"That was...." He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "I don't know her."
"She knew you." She says shortly. She's not hiding her jealousy at all.
"I know. I mean I know her but I don't know her. She's this girl that one of my friends wanted me to call for the longest time and I kept telling him no because she's not my type but I guess he's too much of an asshole to get that and he must've figured that I wouldn't pick up my phone so he gave her this number that I only gave to my parents and my brother and i'm pretty sure that my parents didn't give my friend the number so that means it was Mike and i'm going to call him and my friend and tell them what douche bags they are." He takes a deep breath.
"Okay." Hayden says flatly and Lee keeps looking at her like he's expecting more from her. "You have the phone."
"Right." He mumbles as he takes a few steps back and shakes his head in frustration and Hayden uncrosses her arms and turns on the TV and it's so passive aggressive it almost hurts.
She feels like she needs to even the playing field. She thinks she needs to make him feel a little jealous. Apparently she's both stupid and immature.
He had this thing with that girl, it was totally innocent and she gets that and buys that so she wants to have an innocent, jealousy inducing thing with someone as well.
She accepts the offer from a guy that she works with and they plan for a date the next night.
Hayden comes out of her room in the fancy dress that he saw that first day that he moved in and he immediately takes notice.
"Where are you going? You look nice, beautiful." He rushes out. "Are you going somewhere?" He cringes and shakes his head slightly.
"I have a date." She says as she stands in front of the mirror by the door, putting in her earrings and adjusting her hair one last time.
"Oh."
That's the sound that she wanted to hear. Hidden feelings bubbling to the surface on their own without any filter. It's satisfying.
"He's going to be here to pick me up in like.." She looks at the clock on the oven in the kitchen. "Five minutes." She glances over at him. He's standing up now, he looks shaken and pale, like this is a really big deal to him and she thinks that maybe she took it too far. He clearly doesn't want her to go out tonight and that's really all that she wanted. She's about to ask him if he's okay when he grabs his sweatshirt and keys off the table and walks past her to the door.
"I almost forgot, i'm meeting some friends tonight at this place." He shrugs. "I should probably go."
Lie. It's a lie and he knows that she knows it but he doesn't care.
She narrows her eyes at him and surprisingly he doesn't break contact.
"Do you even know where you're going?"
"Yeah. I've been here for a few weeks, I know my way around." He assures her. It's another lie but this time it's one that she doesn't know. She doesn't know that he'd be literally lost without her and he sometimes gets lost going into the studio.
"Well I hope you have fun."
"Yeah." He opens the door and awkwardly struggles into his hoodie. "You too."
"Don't wait up for me." She calls after him after him as he moves out the door. It's one last knife that she suddenly has the urge to dig into him.
He appears in the doorway again, his hand still on the door knob. "Don't wait up for me either. I might not even come home, I don't know who's going to be there so..." He trials off and shrugs and she exhales loudly in disbelief.
"Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks." He tells her and he leaves for good and the door shuts and she feels defeated. Beat at her own game and she's so over all of it. She doesn't even want to go out now. The whole night is ruined because he bested her and now he's out, probably at a bar somewhere because that's the only place that he could go, meeting people, women, and that's extremely off putting. This is not how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to make him burn a little, go out with this guy, have a decent time in her pretty dress, come back to the apartment, let the guy kiss her on the cheek and then he was supposed to leave with no intention of ever seeing her again and then she was going to go inside and Lee would be there, waiting, and he'd kiss her without saying a word.
That's how it should've gone and that's shot to hell.
She sighs and sits down at the kitchen table, her fingers drumming impatiently on the surface as she waits for a knock at the door.
He hates himself. He didn't handle that well at all. There are no friends, there's no wondering who's going to be there, there's no bar. There's nothing but the crowded streets and the strong feelings of failure that are quickly taking a hold of him.
He has no idea where he's going or where he should go and he's not even thinking about the option of going to some random bar and drowning his stupid, self inflicted sorrows until he can't think at all and ends up going home with some equally random and stupid girl who would try and ultimately fail to make him feel better because all he can think about is Hayden in that dress, the one that she was saving for a special occasion, and how she picked this date with this guy as that occasion. It sucks. He should've acted differently and he didn't and now she's out on a clear path and he's carefully navigating around downtown L.A at 8 o'clock at night, alone and disappointed.
He makes it to the studio by accident. Just pure dumb luck and he writes and plays for a little while. Tries to clear his head but everything that he does is laced with bitterness and he thinks it's all crap and he throws all the paper, scribbled with lyrics at the trash can and wills himself to forget the melody's and notes that went along with them so he's not tempted to come back to them.
He gives up on that and winds up lying down on the old, beat up couch that almost seems out of place in the shiny studio. He can't stop his mind from racing and he covers his hands with his face like that could make him disappear.
Meanwhile she's still stuck at home, lying on her own couch, one heel on, one off, feet on the coffee table, watching some shitty show on TV.
She waited for her date. She waited for ten minutes after the set time, most guys are late anyways. Then it stretched to fifteen and twenty and then it's forty five minutes later and she's given up on the knock and she's waiting for a phone call from him saying that there was a family emergency or he's at the hospital because he got into a car accident, nothing serious but enough for him to not come and pick her up.
But she gets nothing and she walks sadly over to the couch and sits down feeling nothing but self pity.
Her dress is wrinkled and she's one episode of The Jersey Shore away from jumping off the balcony or sticking her head in the over when the door opens and Lee walks through.
He couldn't stay away for that long. He decided that he didn't care when she got home, he wanted to be there for it.
She wants to curl into a ball and die because she has to look like the most pathetic creature on the planet.
"I thought you had a date?" He questions and it comes off totally callous and it's not what he meant. He should've started with 'how was your date?' so he could've at least played along with what she was doing. Give her an out.
"I did." She says simply. She twirls her hair around her finger, her arm resting over her head.
"What happened?" His voice is gentle and that makes everything worse.
"I...." She sighs heavily. "I don't want to talk about it." She turns slightly, just a little bit so she doesn't have to put much effort into it because she doesn't have much to give. "How was your night?"
"I don't want to talk about it." He says.
"Perfect." She mumbles and he walks back to his room to ditch his keys and sweatshirt.
He comes back into the living room slowly, he's not sure if she wants him anywhere near her.
"Did you eat dinner." It's a stupid question but it goes with everything that's happened for him tonight.
"No." She says loudly, like it's the most obvious thing in the world and it kind of it.
"Do you want anything? I'm kind of hungry."
"I don't want to eat. " She says quietly and he looks at her on the couch, looking so pretty and sad, and then goes into the kitchen.
She hears the fridge open and her stomach growls because she hasn't eaten much all day because she was saving her appetite for the restaurant that she was supposed to be at right now and she stands up and joins him in the kitchen.
He's got bread and peanut butter and jelly on the counter.
"You want me to make you one?"
She sighs and leans on the counter, shifting her weight from foot to foot, her one missing heel making her seem taller then shorter every time she moves.
"I guess. If it's not too much trouble."
He smiles. "It's not."
"Okay." She mumbles and she finally steps out of the shoe and kicks it back to the couch. She can't be bothered to pick it up. "I'm going to go change."
"You don't have to." He tells her quickly. "I mean, you said you wanted to wear it so..."
She runs her hands over the front of the dress, doing her best to smooth it out. "No offense, but this is not the kind of situation that I imagined wearing it in."
"None taken." He tells her and she walks off to her room.
She comes back out in jean shorts and a concert tee from a band that he's never heard of before and she makes a mental note to ask her about it when they're both not so pathetic.
"I can make you something else." He says when she gets back to his side. "Years of watching The Food Network have given me some considerable skills."
That makes her smile and she reaches around him, taking the knife from his hand and spreads peanut butter on the other slice of bread.
"I think this is a peanut butter and jelly kind of a night."
They eat standing up over the sink. They don't think they deserve the comfort of a chair of the stability of a plate.
When they're done she sits up on the counter, her arms wrapped around her leg that's folded up onto the counter and she's watching him clean up what little mess they made. He's just tied up the bread bag when he turns to her.
"I didn't have plans tonight." The truth spills out of him and she knew that but it sounds different when he says it. "I made it up. I didn't like that you were going to be on a date because I don't want you dating anyone."
"It wasn't really a date." She says quietly, staring down at the floor.
"I'm sorry. That wasn't right. That guy's a douche."
"It's okay. It happens."
"It shouldn't. What kind of guys do you usually date Hayden?"
She looks up at him, annoyed and endeared by his worry. "Just guys Lee. That's what guys do. Sometimes they're great and other times they disappoint." She shrugs. "It's no big deal. Girls do it to guys too."
"No. Guys shouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't do that to you."
She takes his hand and pulls him closer. "I know you wouldn't. I like that you turned out like that." She tells him with a smile. "I only set up this date because I was jealous that that girl called you. I'm immature and stupid."
He breathes out a laugh. "I'm doubly stupid and immature. I got lost tonight."
She thinks he means figuratively, like he wasn't sure what he wanted or something but then it hits her and she laughs. "You got lost?"
He lets go of her hand and covers his face with it, embarrassed. "I still don't know where the hell I am in this city. I always get lost. By some miracle I found the studio and went there."
She laughs and kicks at him harmlessly. "Unbelievable Lee."
He shakes his head and puts his hand on her knee but then takes it off and places it on the counter next to her.
"Don't set up any more dates."
She runs her finger across the back of his hand. "Only if you don't pretend to go out when you have no where to be."
"I can do that." He says and his hand slips away from the counter and he goes back to cleaning up and she kicks her legs against the cabinets and feels a little down because there was still no kiss.
A few days later she comes home from work and when she turns around after shutting the door he's coming out of his room in a suit, his fingers pulling at his tie, straightening it.
"Wow. You taking someone to prom?"
"Kind of. Go get dressed."
"What?"
"Go get dressed. Put on that dress."
Her face breaks into a smile. "Why?"
"I'm taking you out. Go get fancy."
She runs her hands through her hair. It's gone flat throughout the day and she's going to need some time to get ready.
"I need to shower."
"Okay, that's okay."
"I won't be long."
"Take your time. The reservation isn't for another hour and a half."
"Reservation?"
"I planned this out."
Her face hurts from smiling so had and she walks back to her room and as she passes him she stops and puts her hand on his wrist and leans up to kiss his cheek.
"Thank you."
She showers and dries her hair, leaving it down and straight. She puts on her make up and sprays on some light perfume before she steps into the dress and she tries to shake off the nervous energy that's flowing through her veins.
He tells her that she's beautiful and she blushes and takes his arm as they walk out of the apartment.
"Where are we going?" She asks him when they get to the car.
"It's a surprise."
"Is it somewhere nice?"
"No." He opens up her door. "I got us all dressed up and now i'm going to take us someplace really crappy." He says sarcastically .
"I'll let you surprise me then." She says as she gets into the car.
They pull up outside a well known Hollywood restaurant and she stares at the building as he gets out and hands the keys to the valet then walks over to the passenger side and opens the door for her. She doesn't move.
"C'mon."
"Famous people go here."
"Yeah." He says excitedly. "Why aren't you moving?"
"Because. Famous people go here. It's super expensive."
"So what?"
"So, when did you win the lottery? Do you have a rich uncle that I don't know about or something?"
"I have money now. I have enough."
"How?"
"Recording contract Hayden."
"Well." She gets out of the car. "You say that you have a recording contract . You say you're at the studio and that you can play the guitar and sing but I haven't seen any of it. For I all know you're a big liar and you're running a prostitution ring or something."
He laughs. "I'm not doing that."
"Then you are the prostitute. Some kind of weird, reverse Pretty Women thing."
"I'm not a prostitute and would you stop talking about whores here?"
"I'm just trying to keep it classy Lee. Most of the people in there have probably either been, or have been with prostitute."
"I don't remember reading that on the review." He leads her into the restaurant with his hand on the small of her back.
At the table while he's looking through the menu she's scanning the room looking for celebrities.
"You see anything you like?" He asks her and she glances at him and then back around the room.
"No. No famous people here tonight."
"I meant on the menu."
"I know what you meant." She says lightly as she picks up the menu. "So let's say that you do have a contract and that you can sing."
"I have and can do that."
She puts her hands up. "Prove it."
"I will."
"Well until you do i'm going to have my doubts." He rolls his eyes and looks back at the menu. "If you are telling the truth and you get famous will you make friends with some famous hot guys?"
"I'm so glad you feel comfortable enough with me to talk about other guys on the first date."
She takes a sharp breath in and stares down at the menu.
"Did I not mention that this was a date?" He asks her.
"Not officially."
"This is a date. Officially."
"Okay." She smiles and looks up at him. "Now what about these hot guys?"
He sighs. "I'll do my best."
"You know this is probably the nicest place i've ever been to." She looks around the room again. It's dimly lit, mostly by candlelight from the candles on the tables and there's a small string band playing off to the side. "That you for taking me here."
"You're welcome. Now get whatever you want to get, don't worry about the price. Seriously."
"You're sure about that?"
"Absolutely. If you don't get what you want i'm going to get it for you and eat it and you'll have to watch while I enjoy it and I won't give you any."
"Don't threaten me with food."
"I think I just did."
"Then i'm getting the most expensive thing on this menu stuffed with the second most expensive. Deal with that."
"I will."
The fight ends in smiles and she ends up getting lobster, and glares at him while she orders it and he really doesn't care because he meant what he said and he gets steak.
He honestly doesn't think about the price, even when he gets the check and it's more than he's ever spent on anything besides rent and a car, because he knows that it's all worth it.
As they're waiting for the valet to bring the car around he grabs her arm.
"We should've had desert."
"It's okay."
"No." He complains as he looks back at the restaurant. "This place is supposed to have the best chocolate cake ever."
"Lee, it's fine, i'm full anyways."
He looks at her with a tilt to his head and she frowns and rolls her eyes.
"I guess I could go for some ice cream or something."
"Dammit."
"But it's no big deal. We have ice cream at home. Let's just go there."
"I don't want to go home yet. This is our first date. I don't want it to end with us sitting at home eating ice cream out of the carton."
She raises her eyebrows. "How did you want it to end?"
"I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want it to end."
She sighs as she takes his hand and he grabs the keys from the valet and pulls open the door for her. She gets in but holds the door open so he can't close it.
"Let's go get ice cream."
"I don't know where to take you."
"I do." She puts her hand on his face trying to make him feel better. "We don't have to go home yet." She gives him a small smile and he smiles back and she closes the car door.
She has him stop at a grocery store and he parks the car and stares at her.
"This is a grocery store."
"I know that." She says as she hops out of the car and he shakes his head and laughs as he begins to follow her blindly into the store.
Once they get inside she heads right back to the frozen food section and puts her hand on her hip as she looks through the glass freezer door.
"What looks good?" She asks him but he's looking past her at the guy standing at the end of the aisle, obviously checking her out. When he doesn't respond Hayden looks at him then follows his eye line to the guy who immediately looks away when Hayden catches him looking.
"I hate that." She tells Lee.
"What?"
"People staring."
"You mean guys checking you out because that's what was just happening."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes it was. I don't blame him. You look....amazing."
"So I put on a dress and heads turn?"
"You don't have to put on a dress to look like this. You look beautiful all the time."
"Oh c'mon Lee, i'm really no big deal."
"Don't say that, it not true."
She shakes her head and changes the subject. "Which one do you like?"
He looks into the freezer with her. "Get those popsicles that you split in half and you're supposed to share but you never wanted to share with me."
"Oh my God, I was six, get over it."
"You had issues."
"You could've gotten your own popsicle." She tells him as she opens the door to the freezer and takes the box.
They open the box as soon as they're out of the store and they eat leaning against the hood of his car.
He's almost done with his when he turns to her.
"This isn't really romantic is it?"
She shrugs. "I like it."
That's enough for him.
After they finish he drives them back to the apartment and he grabs her wrist to stop her from opening the front door.
"Are you going to invite me in?"
"What?" She doesn't get it at first but then she figures that he's really committed to this first date idea and she plays along. "Sure. Why not."
"I love when girls say that to me." He tells her when she gets the door open and they walk inside.
"I bet you do." She teases him as she steps out of her heels.
"You're not going to offer me a drink or coffee or anything? What kind of date are you?" He teases back and Hayden stands with her hands on her hips, challenging him.
"I don't know, are you going to kiss me tonight?"
He looks a little surprised but recovers quickly. "You're assuming that I kiss on the first date."
"Oh please, you dated Brittany, i'm pretty sure you're used to doing anything on any date."
He laughs and takes a slow step over to her, putting his hands on her hips when he gets to her.
"What if I don't kiss you tonight?" He whispers and she pushes him away from her.
"Then i'm going to bed. I'm tired and full and you can see yourself out." She jokes over her shoulder as she walks to her bedroom but before she can get there she feels him take her hand and he pulls her back to him, his lips covering hers and she reacts right away. She kisses him back with purpose, letting her fingers tangle into his hair and her body brush against his. She backs away suddenly and doesn't drag her with him towards her room.
"That's as far as I go on the first date." She tells him and his mouth drops open but he closes it quickly.
"You're....." He stops and takes a deep controlling breath.
"I'm what?" She smirks at him.
"You're....my favorite." He finishes and she laughs to herself before she looks him over one last time and gets to her room and shuts the door.