Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Just Friends

Authors note: I wrote this under the influence of 'The scene is dead, long live the scene' by Cobra Starship. I wrote it up quickly at 1 am in a crappy hotel room somewhere in Virginia. My first attempt at a more intimate scene. Grammatical errors should be expected.


They were just friends.



So she seriously wondered why the heck she was sitting there, 2000 miles away from home, in an exceedingly dusty parking lot. Waiting for him to come back.



She pressed into the door of his old rusted Jeep, which creaked in protest at being opened. Checked her cell phone again, nothing.

Giving the door a hard push, she hopped into the dirt, then slammed the door closed

Holding her cell phone high in the air, she proceeded to jump up and down, which did nothing but kick dirt up, which she inhaled – and quickly began to sneeze.



He smiled slightly at her as he approached, “Just one bed” he offered apologetically. She raised an eyebrow.



“Don’t worry, I’ll take the floor” he added sheepishly. She shrugged as he passed her to open the back of the Jeep.

“Doesn’t matter to me” She said, tugging one of her packs out from under the pile of of his stuff and shrugging it onto her shoulder.



He grabbed his own and led her towards one of the side rooms, she dragged her heels in the dirt and pouted.



That had been the most he’d said to her in the last thirty hours. She stared at him from behind, and noted that for once – she could honestly say he looked like hell. His usually well kept hair was unwashed and stuck out oddly, he had a strong five o clock shadow, and looked more then ready to pass out.



‘Then again’ she mused, ‘ I probably look just as bad’. They’d been driving almost two days straight and they were both exhausted.



Slipping the keycard into the scanner, he held the door for her with a mock bow. She smiled at him and he grinned like a little boy. It was the first real smile she’d seen out of him since she’d jumped into his truck two days ago.


Usually she couldn’t get a word in edge-wise with him. But this trip was different. His jaw was set into a tight frown, and she hadn’t been able to get him to relax no matter what she’d done.



She wondered what she had expected as she emptied her stuff onto the single queen size bed in the middle of the room. She’d hoped they would be able to catch up a bit – but they’d been drifting a part a bit recently. She chided herself silently while pulling out a set of clean clothes. His mother was dead. Why the heck would she expect him to want to bond with an old friend?



She sighed audibly and he turned from flipping through a menu on a small desk on the other side of the road.

“Don’t be sad,” he said softly. “This’ll be over soon”



She nodded, and the room went silent for a moment. He hugged her from behind and she stiffened. “I really do appreciate you coming with me” he offered.



“I wanted to come” she answered.



“I don’t know what I would have done if I had to come alone…” He trailed off and moved away.



She didn’t know what to say, so she stayed silent, then collapsed onto the bed.


“I’m gonna take a shower….” He told her as he headed towards the back of the room.



“u-hmmm” she mumbled snuggling a pillow.



Roughly ten minutes later he appeared shirtless in front of the TV. He looked better, she noted.



“You look like hell,” he teased, and she threw a pillow at him. He caught it, then gave it an odd look, gave the same look to the bed, then to her.



She sighed. Then shifted until the right end of the bed. “Get in” she ordered, and he did.



She woke up slowly, wondering why the room was so dark. He was snuggling beside her and tugging her closer. She rolled over, facing him. He stared back at her, startled and sheepish.

“What’s wrong?” she asked sinking back into her pillow.



He stared at her in silence for a moment, before shifting so he could rest his chin on her head, pulling her firmly against his chest.



She stiffened slightly, no longer use to the contact; she vaguely noted that he hadn’t really touched her in years, not since they’d broken up. Nuzzling into the crook of his neck she sighed happily.



“Had a nightmare” he whispered into her hair.



“Want to talk about it?” she asked



“No” he answered quickly. Then a moment later, “Don’t leave.”



Her eyes softened, and she placed a quick butterfly kiss just below his ear. “I can’t.” She teased. “You have the keys”




She shifted under his arm, “Lighten up.” She hissed slightly, “You hug me any tighter and something’s gonna break” She groaned softly when he retreated quickly to the opposite side of the bed as if burnt. He apologized quietly and rolled over, turning his back on her.



She huffed, wishing he wasn’t so sensitive, and wondering if he’d always been this scared of rejection or if it was new. Crawling over to him. She snuggled against him from behind, and tickled his ribs a bit, causing him to curl into the fetal position.



“I didn’t mean it like that…you can, we can cuddle if you want, just don’t hold me like I’m trying to run away okay?”



He didn’t move for a moment, but when he did she found herself pressed firmly against him, he nuzzled her hair softly and slid a hand under her shirt to rub her lower back.



She smiled brightly and nuzzled into his chest, yawning, “going back to bed?” she asked groggily, and he shook his head ‘no’.

She glanced up at him the best she could, remembering he’d been a born and bred insomniac for years.

“Want me to stay up with..” “No.” he cut her off firmly. “You sleep”



“K…” she mumbled, really already half asleep.



He watched her for several minutes, rubbing knots out of her back as he found them, he smiled down at her, truly happy he’d asked her to come with him, and he kissed her forehead softly, before drifting off to sleep himself.





She woke up to an annoying ring far off to her left, and she lifted her head and squinted when she heard him curse loudly beside her. She stared at him as he reached over to nightstand to grab his phone.



He glanced at the I.D. before giving her an apologetic glance.



She rolled her eyes as he flipped the phone open and greeted the person on the other line, keeping his eyes on her. She knew exactly who was calling from the look he gave her, the same look he gave her every time his girlfriend called.



Sighing, she threw her legs off the side of the bed and made to get up, but he grabbed at her wrist and made a movement with his head to incline her into lying back down. Jerking away, she closed the bathroom door on him.



Washing her face, she listened to him as he answered all her questions, how was he doing, where was he, had he started packing his moms things yet…no questions about her of course, and she wondered if he’d even said he was bringing someone alone.

Probably not.



She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror.


Wondering why she felt so bad for herself, why she felt so jealous.



After all.



They were just friends.