Post by jezyk on Jun 4, 2006 23:07:55 GMT -5
Ok, well, I'm hoping pepople are reading, even if they're not commenting! If this is a forum for case stories only, let me know!
Now... on with the show!
Chapter Three
He was hiding it, but he still felt the nerves bristling inside of him. It wasn't merely the anticipation of getting drunk. It wasn't merely the excitement of getting drunk with Lilly. It was the way she was watching him. He could feel the weight of her eyes on him as he tried to play it down. But he knew exactly what she meant. It was kind of idiotic to lick the back of his hand and do shots with a woman he wasn't trying to seduce. He blocked it out as he concentrated on the taste of the salt and then on getting the liquid down his throat before he thought about it. The lime was easier, although he wasn't sure it was flattering to have lime juice running down his chin.
The tequila settled heavily in his stomach, but he welcomed it. It distracted him from Lilly's stare, from two precious murdered girls. He smiled as he pushed the salt toward her. "Better already."
She nodded, understanding that it wasn't the booze working that quickly, but rather the promise that the process had started. Oblivion was coming, he only needed to wait. Scotty watched as she mimicked his actions and he found himself wondering if just maybe in all her introverted, willful ignorance of what most other people did for fun, she had felt stupid because she hadn't known what to do. She'd admitted tat she didn't drink much and he knew she didn't make a habit of hanging out with the sorts of people who did tequila shots. He decided he'd ask if he happened to remember later.
His eyes were glued to her as she lifted her shot. Her throat worked convulsively to swallow it down. Her face had paled and when he held out a wedge of lime, she turned away and shook her head. He wasn't deterred.
"Trust me." He held the lime up to her mouth, practically daring her to bite it in his hand.
Her delicate fingers brushed his as she took the wedge from him, averting her eyes and placing it in her mouth. He didn't mind - they were still sober and he hadn't imagined Lilly would ever be so bold. He bit back a grin. Maybe later.
He waited until the color, a tiny blush, returned to her cheeks. "Better?"
She nodded. He guessed she was only better from the fear that she would gag because her eyes still had their lost look. They narrowed slightly as she looked around. "It's quiet in here."
He'd never noticed before since his goal whenever he went there was to drink himself into a stupor, but there was no music. The TV that Joe always watched was muted. Scotty's eyes fell on an old jukebox. The unplugged cord lay limply on the floor, only a few inches from the electrical outlet. He shrugged at Lilly, then walked over to it. He glanced at Joe. Joe didn't seem to realize that anyone was there, so Scotty plugged it in. He watched the two other patrons as the music started to play. No one looked up.
Surprisingly, when he turned back to the table, Lilly was downing another shot. She squeezed her eyes closed and made a face that conveyed exactly how very much she disliked the tequila. He handed her another lime as he slid into the booth.
She smiled after a moment. "Thanks." Scotty couldn't be sure if she was referring to the alcohol or the lime.
Not about to be outdone, Scotty poured himself another drink. When he was finished, he sat back and stared at Lilly. He'd only had two shots - he wasn't feeling it yet. Lilly, on the other hand, seemed quite content. Her head was leaning back against the wall, her eyes closed, her mouth curled up in a smile. His eyes locked on her lips and he felt the familiar desire to kiss her. It wasn't a rare occurrence. He'd thought about it way too many times to even convince himself that he only thought of her as a friend. The only thing that normally stopped him was the idea that she'd slug him if e were to try such a thing. At the moment, however, he wasn't sure she'd object.
He managed to drag his eyes off her mouth, only to discover that her eyes had opened and she was staring back at him. His eyes widened, instinctively afraid of getting caught. His body tensed as he prepared for an assault - physical or verbal.
Instead, she simply smiled at him and he knew, in that moment, their rocky past was truly behind the. He could feel the connection between them, as strong as if it had never been broken. He realized it was probably stronger for the damage since they'd survived it. He smiled back.
They followed that round with a couple of beers, nursing the cold liquid giving them more time to enjoy the process before they were too far gone to enjoy it. Time seemed to get away from him as they sat there quietly, not talking at all. There was no need for words; they didn't need them to communicate when it was really important and they only got in the way between them the rest of the time.
Scotty polished off two more shots and he was hoping Lilly didn't notice how tightly he was gripping the table to keep it from spinning around. He was pretty sure she hadn't, though, because after her third shot, she'd started giggling at nothing particular. He wasn't normally a fan of women who giggled at him, and with the way she kept looking at him in between fits of giggles, he was pretty sure he was the source of her amusement, but he could hardly begrudge her a few moments of lighthearted humor. Letting her forget was, after all, the whole reason he'd taken her out.
After he found the bottom of his beer and the spinning table had relented somewhat, he decided it was time to go. Lilly's giggling had passed and, with the benefit of another half of a beer, she'd lapsed into a silence that Scotty feared would allow her mind to wander back where she didn't want it to go.
"You ready to call it a night?"
"It's probably time to call it a morning." Lilly lifted her arm and stared at her wrist for a long time. Then she laughed. "I'm not wearing a watch."
"No, you're not, Lil." Chuckling, he stood up. He dropped plenty more cash on the table than necessary before he held out his hand to Lilly. "Need help?"
She shook her head defiantly. "I can stand up on my own." She punctuated her sentence by pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. As if to further prove him wrong, she took a step forward and promptly lost her balance.
Catching her required more coordination than Scotty realized he possessed just then, but sure enough, the next moment found her pressed against him, his arms folded tightly around her. He smirked, unable to resist glancing at her lips and their close proximity. "You so sure about that?"
She laughed, but made no attempt to extricate herself from his arms. "I can stand up just fine. It's the walking I need a little help with."
On a normal night, even one involving alcohol, Scotty would have chosen to walk. But Lilly was surprisingly cumbersome for her petite size and Scotty was feeling far more intoxicated than he would have chosen to admit. He decided a cab was a good idea. They found one half a block away and climbed in the back.
The cabbie sized them up in the rear view mirror. "Where to?"
Scotty figured Lilly would definitely want to be at home, even though she didn't appear to have even heard the question. He knew he could crash on the couch, hopefully even waking up early enough to disappear before he had to face her and what would amount to a multitude of questions regarding why he was in her house. He started to give her address to the driver, but stopped suddenly. As fuzzy as his memory was, he clearly remembered leaving every dollar he had on the table. He turned to Lilly. "You got any cash?"
She stared at him for so long that Scotty knew she didn't know what he was asking. But just as he was about to start looking through her pockets himself, she produced a ten.
Scotty smiled at the cabbie and gave him Lilly's address.
The cabbie smiled back. "Ten bucks ain't going to get you there."
His place was closer, so he gave his own address.
The cabbie smiled. "Yeah, I can do that."
Lilly sagged against him as the cab started to move. His arm was still around her from when he'd helped her climb in the car without hitting her head. He could feel the warmth of her body through her thin sweater and his dress shirt. His eyes focused on the meter, staring at it until he couldn't see or feel anything else.
Her hand dropping onto his leg nearly made him jump right out of the cab. He took a few moments to make sure he was still in control before he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "That's not really a good idea, Lil." Scotty's intention had been to prevent the cabbie from overhearing, but as he lifted his eyes, he realized the cabbie had repositioned the mirror and was grinning, expecting that he was about to catch a good show.
He was so furious it took him a moment to realize Lilly hadn't answered. And she hadn't moved her hand either.
"Lil?" He leaned his head to the side, stealing a peek at her face. She was sound asleep. He gently moved her hand into her own lap and smiled to himself. She was awfully sweet when she was passed out in his arms.
Another moment ticked by and they were standing on the street outside his building. He'd let it go when the cabbie hadn't offered any change from the ten for the meter that read less than half that. He wasn't even sure they couldn't have made it to Lilly's on ten bucks, but he wasn't about the get into a fight when he was drunk. He'd used up all his get out of jail free cards when he was drinking too heavily the year before. He knew Stillman would have no mercy on him if he got popped for beating up a cabbie - and that was only if he could beat up a cabbie in his inebriated state.
Lilly woke up enough to try to walk as they headed for the elevator. Scotty laughed as their feet kept tangling together. Neither one of them was particularly able to walk, but eventually, they made it through his door. He considered the fact that they made it to the couch without falling a minor miracle. Scotty laid his head back against the couch, trying to summon up the sobriety to drag Lilly to his bed and then find his own way back to the couch.
"Scotty?" Lilly's voice sounded small and frightened, calling Scotty's attention immediately. He opened his eyes and saw her watching him. "Where are we?"
Stupidly, he looked around for a moment, almost unsure himself. "My place." He vaguely recalled the cab ride and how they'd ended up there. If it was hazy to him, he knew Lilly had no idea it had happened.
"Oh." She turned away from him, almost like she was checking to make sure he was serious. Then she turned back. "Why?"
The cab ride seemed even more distant than it had a moment earlier, so he just shrugged. "Sleep, Lil." The idea of putting her to bed no longer occurred to him.
She thought about it for a moment, or perhaps it just took her a long time to process what he'd said. In the end, she scooted down a little lower on the couch and rested back against him. They sat like that for a long time, both of them drifting in and out of consciousness. But he felt it when her body tensed suddenly, her fear waking him immediately.
She craned her head up to look at him. "It was bad. Those girls-"
He pressed his finger against her lips and shushed her. "You're supposed to forget, Lil."
Her eyes locked on his and he felt his heart soar at the affection he saw there. She smiled. "I did. Thank you."
Pretending to brush her hair from her face, he ran his fingertips lightly across her cheek. He wanted to blame the alcohol, but he wasn't sure that he could, when he leaned forward and just barely skimmed his lips across hers. "Good night, Lilly."
She bared her teeth in a wide smile before she tucked her face back against his chest. "Night."
He curled his arms around her protectively as he shifted them carefully until they were lying down. All the while, his arms kept their tight hold on her. He never wanted to let her go.
Now... on with the show!
Chapter Three
He was hiding it, but he still felt the nerves bristling inside of him. It wasn't merely the anticipation of getting drunk. It wasn't merely the excitement of getting drunk with Lilly. It was the way she was watching him. He could feel the weight of her eyes on him as he tried to play it down. But he knew exactly what she meant. It was kind of idiotic to lick the back of his hand and do shots with a woman he wasn't trying to seduce. He blocked it out as he concentrated on the taste of the salt and then on getting the liquid down his throat before he thought about it. The lime was easier, although he wasn't sure it was flattering to have lime juice running down his chin.
The tequila settled heavily in his stomach, but he welcomed it. It distracted him from Lilly's stare, from two precious murdered girls. He smiled as he pushed the salt toward her. "Better already."
She nodded, understanding that it wasn't the booze working that quickly, but rather the promise that the process had started. Oblivion was coming, he only needed to wait. Scotty watched as she mimicked his actions and he found himself wondering if just maybe in all her introverted, willful ignorance of what most other people did for fun, she had felt stupid because she hadn't known what to do. She'd admitted tat she didn't drink much and he knew she didn't make a habit of hanging out with the sorts of people who did tequila shots. He decided he'd ask if he happened to remember later.
His eyes were glued to her as she lifted her shot. Her throat worked convulsively to swallow it down. Her face had paled and when he held out a wedge of lime, she turned away and shook her head. He wasn't deterred.
"Trust me." He held the lime up to her mouth, practically daring her to bite it in his hand.
Her delicate fingers brushed his as she took the wedge from him, averting her eyes and placing it in her mouth. He didn't mind - they were still sober and he hadn't imagined Lilly would ever be so bold. He bit back a grin. Maybe later.
He waited until the color, a tiny blush, returned to her cheeks. "Better?"
She nodded. He guessed she was only better from the fear that she would gag because her eyes still had their lost look. They narrowed slightly as she looked around. "It's quiet in here."
He'd never noticed before since his goal whenever he went there was to drink himself into a stupor, but there was no music. The TV that Joe always watched was muted. Scotty's eyes fell on an old jukebox. The unplugged cord lay limply on the floor, only a few inches from the electrical outlet. He shrugged at Lilly, then walked over to it. He glanced at Joe. Joe didn't seem to realize that anyone was there, so Scotty plugged it in. He watched the two other patrons as the music started to play. No one looked up.
Surprisingly, when he turned back to the table, Lilly was downing another shot. She squeezed her eyes closed and made a face that conveyed exactly how very much she disliked the tequila. He handed her another lime as he slid into the booth.
She smiled after a moment. "Thanks." Scotty couldn't be sure if she was referring to the alcohol or the lime.
Not about to be outdone, Scotty poured himself another drink. When he was finished, he sat back and stared at Lilly. He'd only had two shots - he wasn't feeling it yet. Lilly, on the other hand, seemed quite content. Her head was leaning back against the wall, her eyes closed, her mouth curled up in a smile. His eyes locked on her lips and he felt the familiar desire to kiss her. It wasn't a rare occurrence. He'd thought about it way too many times to even convince himself that he only thought of her as a friend. The only thing that normally stopped him was the idea that she'd slug him if e were to try such a thing. At the moment, however, he wasn't sure she'd object.
He managed to drag his eyes off her mouth, only to discover that her eyes had opened and she was staring back at him. His eyes widened, instinctively afraid of getting caught. His body tensed as he prepared for an assault - physical or verbal.
Instead, she simply smiled at him and he knew, in that moment, their rocky past was truly behind the. He could feel the connection between them, as strong as if it had never been broken. He realized it was probably stronger for the damage since they'd survived it. He smiled back.
They followed that round with a couple of beers, nursing the cold liquid giving them more time to enjoy the process before they were too far gone to enjoy it. Time seemed to get away from him as they sat there quietly, not talking at all. There was no need for words; they didn't need them to communicate when it was really important and they only got in the way between them the rest of the time.
Scotty polished off two more shots and he was hoping Lilly didn't notice how tightly he was gripping the table to keep it from spinning around. He was pretty sure she hadn't, though, because after her third shot, she'd started giggling at nothing particular. He wasn't normally a fan of women who giggled at him, and with the way she kept looking at him in between fits of giggles, he was pretty sure he was the source of her amusement, but he could hardly begrudge her a few moments of lighthearted humor. Letting her forget was, after all, the whole reason he'd taken her out.
After he found the bottom of his beer and the spinning table had relented somewhat, he decided it was time to go. Lilly's giggling had passed and, with the benefit of another half of a beer, she'd lapsed into a silence that Scotty feared would allow her mind to wander back where she didn't want it to go.
"You ready to call it a night?"
"It's probably time to call it a morning." Lilly lifted her arm and stared at her wrist for a long time. Then she laughed. "I'm not wearing a watch."
"No, you're not, Lil." Chuckling, he stood up. He dropped plenty more cash on the table than necessary before he held out his hand to Lilly. "Need help?"
She shook her head defiantly. "I can stand up on my own." She punctuated her sentence by pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. As if to further prove him wrong, she took a step forward and promptly lost her balance.
Catching her required more coordination than Scotty realized he possessed just then, but sure enough, the next moment found her pressed against him, his arms folded tightly around her. He smirked, unable to resist glancing at her lips and their close proximity. "You so sure about that?"
She laughed, but made no attempt to extricate herself from his arms. "I can stand up just fine. It's the walking I need a little help with."
On a normal night, even one involving alcohol, Scotty would have chosen to walk. But Lilly was surprisingly cumbersome for her petite size and Scotty was feeling far more intoxicated than he would have chosen to admit. He decided a cab was a good idea. They found one half a block away and climbed in the back.
The cabbie sized them up in the rear view mirror. "Where to?"
Scotty figured Lilly would definitely want to be at home, even though she didn't appear to have even heard the question. He knew he could crash on the couch, hopefully even waking up early enough to disappear before he had to face her and what would amount to a multitude of questions regarding why he was in her house. He started to give her address to the driver, but stopped suddenly. As fuzzy as his memory was, he clearly remembered leaving every dollar he had on the table. He turned to Lilly. "You got any cash?"
She stared at him for so long that Scotty knew she didn't know what he was asking. But just as he was about to start looking through her pockets himself, she produced a ten.
Scotty smiled at the cabbie and gave him Lilly's address.
The cabbie smiled back. "Ten bucks ain't going to get you there."
His place was closer, so he gave his own address.
The cabbie smiled. "Yeah, I can do that."
Lilly sagged against him as the cab started to move. His arm was still around her from when he'd helped her climb in the car without hitting her head. He could feel the warmth of her body through her thin sweater and his dress shirt. His eyes focused on the meter, staring at it until he couldn't see or feel anything else.
Her hand dropping onto his leg nearly made him jump right out of the cab. He took a few moments to make sure he was still in control before he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "That's not really a good idea, Lil." Scotty's intention had been to prevent the cabbie from overhearing, but as he lifted his eyes, he realized the cabbie had repositioned the mirror and was grinning, expecting that he was about to catch a good show.
He was so furious it took him a moment to realize Lilly hadn't answered. And she hadn't moved her hand either.
"Lil?" He leaned his head to the side, stealing a peek at her face. She was sound asleep. He gently moved her hand into her own lap and smiled to himself. She was awfully sweet when she was passed out in his arms.
Another moment ticked by and they were standing on the street outside his building. He'd let it go when the cabbie hadn't offered any change from the ten for the meter that read less than half that. He wasn't even sure they couldn't have made it to Lilly's on ten bucks, but he wasn't about the get into a fight when he was drunk. He'd used up all his get out of jail free cards when he was drinking too heavily the year before. He knew Stillman would have no mercy on him if he got popped for beating up a cabbie - and that was only if he could beat up a cabbie in his inebriated state.
Lilly woke up enough to try to walk as they headed for the elevator. Scotty laughed as their feet kept tangling together. Neither one of them was particularly able to walk, but eventually, they made it through his door. He considered the fact that they made it to the couch without falling a minor miracle. Scotty laid his head back against the couch, trying to summon up the sobriety to drag Lilly to his bed and then find his own way back to the couch.
"Scotty?" Lilly's voice sounded small and frightened, calling Scotty's attention immediately. He opened his eyes and saw her watching him. "Where are we?"
Stupidly, he looked around for a moment, almost unsure himself. "My place." He vaguely recalled the cab ride and how they'd ended up there. If it was hazy to him, he knew Lilly had no idea it had happened.
"Oh." She turned away from him, almost like she was checking to make sure he was serious. Then she turned back. "Why?"
The cab ride seemed even more distant than it had a moment earlier, so he just shrugged. "Sleep, Lil." The idea of putting her to bed no longer occurred to him.
She thought about it for a moment, or perhaps it just took her a long time to process what he'd said. In the end, she scooted down a little lower on the couch and rested back against him. They sat like that for a long time, both of them drifting in and out of consciousness. But he felt it when her body tensed suddenly, her fear waking him immediately.
She craned her head up to look at him. "It was bad. Those girls-"
He pressed his finger against her lips and shushed her. "You're supposed to forget, Lil."
Her eyes locked on his and he felt his heart soar at the affection he saw there. She smiled. "I did. Thank you."
Pretending to brush her hair from her face, he ran his fingertips lightly across her cheek. He wanted to blame the alcohol, but he wasn't sure that he could, when he leaned forward and just barely skimmed his lips across hers. "Good night, Lilly."
She bared her teeth in a wide smile before she tucked her face back against his chest. "Night."
He curled his arms around her protectively as he shifted them carefully until they were lying down. All the while, his arms kept their tight hold on her. He never wanted to let her go.
!!! I loved all those little moments when they were drunk, you captured their reactions soooo nicely. Very cute and adorable ending too. Exciting story - hope to read more from you.
