We're Trouble Bound

October

When Oliver and his band arrived at the venue, the Keep Your Composure van was already there. A foreign anxiousness stirred in Oliver. He was actually nervous to see Jaime. They’d texted occasionally since their strange phone conversation. But he worried there would be awkwardness or something uncomfortable between them. He didn’t want that. To be honest, he wasn’t sure what he wanted from Jaime. If it was sex he wanted, he’d be trying harder, wouldn’t he? Was it possible that he was interested in her seriously? With his history, that didn’t seem likely. He considered the possibility that maybe he did just want to be her friend. That thought left his mind almost as quickly as it had come. He just could not accept being just friends with someone as attractive as Jaime.

Oliver had entered the still empty venue. He was jet legged and full of anxiety. He wanted to sit in a corner somewhere and brood. At least that seemed like the best course of action until he walked into the dressing room. He was taken back to find Jaime sitting on one of the couches, leaning over a table and intently doing something. Oliver was also surprised to see that she was no longer a blonde. Her hair was a bright red shade. It was different but definitely not bad.

As he entered, Jaime looked up at him and her lips tugged up at the corners, exposing her white teeth. “Oliver!” She stood up and hurried over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Any raw nerves he’d previously had dissolved into nothing. “O’reight?” he mumbled against her hair before she pulled away.

“How was the flight?” Jaime wandered back to her spot at the table. Oliver noticed then what she had been doing.

“Was okay…” He watched as she went back to breaking up the buds. “Wha’re yeh doin’?”

She smirked. “Rolling blunts… Danny and Troy wanted to smoke one after they get back from McDonalds.” She made a face at the mention of the fast food place. “I was hoping you guys would get here soon. Someone recommended I try this vegetarian restaurant down the street… Are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” he said. “We’ve got time.”

“Yeah…” Jaime was peeling open a brown paper tube. She was doing it with impressive speed. “You wanna smoke a blunt before they get back?”

Oliver shook his head and laughed. “’S good to be back wiff yeh. Yeh always up to sumfin.”

“Yep. Always up to no good.” She pressed the edge of the brown paper to her bottom lip and ran her tongue across it before twisting it about her fingers. “We’ll go out to our van and smoke, if you want.”

“Sounds good.” He agreed while she rolled the second blunt as easily as she did the first.

“One for you and me, and one for when they get back,” she declared happily. “It is so good to have my partner in crime back.”

“Partner in crime?” Oli’s lip stuck out.

“Yep.” Jaime nodded and stood. “D’you have a lighter?”

Oliver patted down his pockets. “Aye.”

“Lovely.” She stepped over to him and linked their arms together. “Let’s get high.” She looked up at him with a bold smile.

They walked out of the venue together, encountering only Lee, who was on the phone. Oliver knew that his mates were aware of the effect Jaime had on him. They had to be. He just didn’t act normal around her. He was completely daft in her presence. He was like a puppy, following her around helplessly. He would do whatever she wanted. That seemed to be the main thing; what she wanted was more important than his wants.

“This is as clean as you’ll ever see our van.” Jaime pulled the back door open. There were a few stray water bottles and candy wrappers on the floor, along with a couple book bags and pillows. But for the most part, it wasn’t very dirty. She climbed in and moved to the far side, letting Oliver get in next to her. “You’re not even here five minutes and I’ve already got you getting fucked up. Bet you really missed me.” She ran her fingers over the blunt, checking for loose spots. When she was satisfied, she placed it between her lips.

“Aye, missed yeh a proper lot,” Oliver muttered while pulling out his lighter. He ignited it and held it to the tip of the blunt. It flared up before dying out. Oliver watched as Jaime took a long drag. She held her breath for a moment before blowing out all the smoke directly at Oliver. She held it out and he grabbed it. Jaime watched as he put it between his tattooed fingers. She liked the way he looked when he was smoking, with eyes narrow and a small smirk.

“Did yeh ‘ave a good time at ‘ome?” Oliver asked as they passed the blunt back and forth.

Jaime took a drag of it before saying “It was alright. I was pretty bored actually.”

“Yeh was?”

“I lead a pretty boring life when we’re not on the road.”

“I can’ imagine yeh ever bein’ borin’.”

“I try very hard not to be.”

“It works.”

They sat there for a few more minutes, silently. Oliver was staring at Jaime while she stared out the window. When the size of the blunt had diminished substantially, Jaime turned to Oliver and asked “You want a shotgun?”

“Eh?”

“A shotgun, you know, you flip the… here, let me show you.” She pinched it between her thumb and index finger. “All you have to do is suck in like normal…” She placed the blunt in her mouth backwards, careful to not burn her tongue. She inched closer, leaning into him. She placed both her hands on either side of his face. He put his own lips on the end of the blunt, their lips touching slightly. She began blowing and he sucked the smoke in. After a large hit, Oli pulled away and Jaime quickly grabbed the blunt from her mouth. She saw his face redden and he coughed, releasing a cloud of smoke. Jaime bubbled with laughter and she leaned against his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Tha’ was a nice’un.” He coughed a bit more and laughed as well.

“Your eyes are SO red,” Jaime stated, taking a hit of her own and passing it off.

“I can’t really see yers…” Oliver very quickly brushed her side swept fringe out of her eyes. “Aye, they’re fucked too.”

“I bet. We’re sitting in here stewing in the smoke.” She waved her hand around. There was indeed a haze of smoke around them. Jaime giggled, unable to stop herself from doing it. As she was giggling, someone knocked on her window. It was Danny, waving his McDonald’s cup at her. Troy was already opening the passenger side door.

“You bitch,” Troy said. “Smoking without us.”

“Trust me, mate, there’s plenty fer yeh too,” Oliver said, passing the roach to Troy while Jaime held up the second blunt.

“Oh…” Troy nodded. “Right on.”

--

Oliver and Jaime were walking down the street on their way to the vegetarian restaurant Jaime had been suggested. They both had bloodshot eyes and dry mouths. “I am so bloody firsty…” He said.

“Oh god, I know.” Jaime looked around. “I feel like we’re moving so slow. But we aren’t, you know… It’s like time is fucked up.”

“Aye.”

They arrived at the restaurant, Oliver holding the door for her when they entered. They were greeted by a cheerful hostess wearing a t-shirt reading “Go Green” and clearly no bra. “Just the two of you?” She asked.

“Aye.” Oliver nodded.

“Table or booth?”

Oliver looked to Jaime, both seemed apathetic. “I don’ care,” he shrugged.

“Booth,” Jaime suggested.

“Okey dokey,” the hostess said. She was eyeing Oliver, maybe recognizing him or maybe checking him out. Oliver didn’t care one way or the other. He was entirely too blazed to deal with either thing. “Your waiter is gonna be Clay; he’ll be right with you.”

“Fanks.”

Oliver and Jaime sat in the booth across from each other. Jaime immediately picked up her menu and began browsing it. Oliver peered over his own menu at her. Her hair was falling into her eyes, the cherry red in sharp contrast to her pale skin. He wanted to reach across the table and trail his fingers along her cheeks. He was sure the flesh would be soft. He imagined brushing his hands down her arms, wrapping his own around her tiny frame.

“Stop it.” Jaime was grinning.

“Stop wha’?” Oliver broke from his trance.

“You were staring at me funny.”

“I were?”

“You were… It’s making me nervous. Do I have something on my face?”

“No…” Oliver shook his head, a little embarrassed that he’d been caught staring.

“I get freaked when people look at me weird…. I worry that they think I’m weird or something.” Jaime bit her lip for a brief moment, slight anxiety playing across her face. Oliver had never seen her so much as flinch over her feelings. She was always so confident with everything. She never showed any vulnerability. So this weak moment of insecurity irked Oliver.

“D’yeh fink tha’ maybe ‘m lookin’ at yeh ‘cause yer fuckin’ fit?” Oliver decided that this was the best course of action.

Jaime’s anxious expression immediately faded, only to be replaced by her smug smirk. “Well, I figured that was it. But I was just checking.”

Oliver was about to say something cheeky when a guy approached them. He had a name tag and a notepad. “Hey there, I’m Clay and I’ll be—You’re Jaime.” He suddenly stopped his waiter routine and stared at Jaime.

“Yeah, I am.” Jaime didn’t mind being recognized. It was kind of cool in an uncomfortable way.

“I’m going to the show when I get off work! This is SO cool,” he said. He had one arm completely covered in tattoos and an awkward asymmetrical haircut.

“Really?” Jaime smiled. “Awesome.”

“Yeah… Can I get you guys something to drink?” He looked mostly at Jaime but then glanced at Oliver briefly. He seemed to know Oliver but didn’t care. Clay’s concern was with Jaime.

“Sure,” Jaime said. “Can I have water with lemon but no ice and a cup of green tea with honey? I know that’s like super specific but it’s ritual for me.” She rested her chin in her hand and stared at him. Oliver could tell that if Jaime had asked to be served a goblet of A negative blood, this waiter would have brought it to her gladly. What was it about Jaime that made men fall at her feet?

“Water with lemon no ice and a green tea with honey,” Clay repeated. “And for you?”

Despite his high, Oliver was now a little agitated. Something about this dude bothered him. “The same, I guess.”

“Alright, two of them then.” Clay nodded. “I’ll go get that for you.” He glanced at Jaime once more before he turned off.

“Wanka,” Oliver mumbled, not realizing it was aloud.

“Oliver...” Jaime glared.

“Wha? ‘E was a wanka.”

“He didn’t even do anything to you.”

“’E was starin’ at yer knockers the whole time,” Oliver said indignantly.

“So? You do it all the time.”

Oliver opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it when he realized it was true. “’M allowed ta do it, ‘cause we’re mates.”

“Uh huh… Do you ogle all your friends? I mean Matt Nicholls has got a cute butt and all but I don’t know if it’s appropriate for you to be staring at it.”

“I—“ Oliver was slightly speechless. She never failed to beat him at his own games. It was downright impressive. “Damn girl… Yer fuckin’ slick sometimes.”

“I know.” She grinned wider. “You just gotta keep up with me, Sykes.”