Status: finished ; )
Thankful for You
I Always Reach When I'm Thinking Of Words To Say
Ivory wrinkled her nose in disgust as she watched the boy next to her vomit all over his shoes. She was definitely re-thinking her choices. The party had been a bad one. Jack had stuck by her side for the first hour, but then he had to go to set up to play. Now she was alone and getting sicker by the second.
“This is called The Party Scene!” She heard Alex’s familiar voice yell from the corner of the backyard. “Hey kids, you’ve got!” Then there was loud guitar squeals and a drum beat she could feel in her chest. It was frightening, more so than she thought it would be. Ivory hugged herself against the chilly air and tried to see the boys through the crowd that had accumulated around them.
It wasn’t her type of music, that was for sure, but she didn’t repulse it either. There was something catchy about Alex’s voice, and how it stood out against the rhythmic guitar squeals and drum beats. She didn’t relate to the lyrics, but she still found them somewhat humorous. She clapped along with the rest of the crowd when they finished and waited patiently for Jack to return.
Ivory was starting to get nervous when he appeared at her side, sweaty and happier than she’d ever seen him. “So, what’d you think?” He yelled as if he was deaf and she giggled. There was still a ringing in his ears as he watched her give him two thumbs up. “You liked it?” He asked skeptically.
“It was interesting.” She shouted back to him as more loud music took over the atmosphere and made a face. “Not exactly my thing, but you sounded good.” She tried to compliment him and he just shook his head.
“It’s okay to say we sound like shit, you know.” Jack laughed as he placed his hand lightly on her lower back to guide her back into the house.
“Fine, you sounded and look like shit!” Ivory still yelled as they entered the mostly quiet house and then blushed profusely in embarrassment. Jack laughed harder at her red cheeks and gave her a soft push into the kitchen.
“Thanks for the honesty.” He added sarcastically and she thought maybe he’d taken her seriously. Ivory stopped walking and turned partway to face him, putting her hands up but stopping just before she touched him.
“You guys were great.” Her eyes burned into his and he couldn’t take it. Ivory squealed as Jack’s hands grabbed her sides and picked her up from the ground, setting her on the island counter behind her. “Jack?” It was his name that snapped him back. His first name in her innocently, worried voice. He quickly removed his hands and took two steps back.
He’d almost lost it. Those blue eyes of hers had evoked a fierce passion in him, one he almost couldn’t control. He’d almost kissed her. And it scared him.
“Bassam? Are you in there?” She waved her hand in front of his face and sighed with relief as he started to blink. She’d never seen him stare at her quite like that, and him picking her up was surly a surprise to both of them.
“Yeah, uh, thanks.” Jack turned his back to her and stumbled over to the refrigerator, grabbing himself a cold bottle of water. “So you ready to go?” He distracted himself as he forced himself to think about how good the water felt on his dry throat. It didn’t help much.
“I don’t know,” Ivory shrugged as she braced herself on the counter and looked around. “This isn’t so bad, I guess.” She admitted it and was thankful Alex was nowhere around to hear her. Then he’d surely stuff it in her face.
“It gets old after a while.” Jack took a glance at her and saw her breathtaking smile.She has to make it this damn hard, he thought as he couldn’t pull his eyes from her.
“Aw, is poor little Bassam too tired to party? Does he need to take a nap?” She giggled as he rolled his eyes and took a few steps closer to her. Now he was leaning against the counter beside her, his arm brushing against her thigh. She felt that rush of adrenalin at his touch and quickly brought her hands to her lap, lacing her fingers together.
“Maybe a good book by the fire is what I need.” Jack smirked as he saw the red creeping up her neck again at his words. That was exactly how she spent most of her winter and fall nights, and he knew it.
“Jerk,” she muttered and kicked his thigh. He laughed and bent over to run the spot. Suddenly there was more people in the kitchen and the noises from the living room became louder.
“Looks like the party has moved indoors,” Jack sighed. He wished it hadn’t. He wished he was still alone with Ivory.
“Well, it was only a matter of time.” Ivory commented as she scanned faces. None of them looked really familiar, but she noticed a few from her classes. “It’s still pretty chilly out, even though it’s already March.”
“Yeah, you want to go out to the living room?” He asked and she shrugged before jumping off of the counter. Jack’s hand found hers and he started to pull her through the kitchen and into the living room. It was more packed than Ivory had expected and the sight made her gasp. There were kids dancing in a way that made Ivory uneasy. She desperately hoped Jack wouldn’t ask her to dance. She was so absorbed in staring at everyone else that she didn’t even notice she’d clasped Jack’s arm with her other hand. Jack glanced back at her and felt a foolish grin plant itself on his face as he saw her clutched to him. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before turning his eyes back to the crowd. He found his friends easy and pulled Ivory over toward them.
“IVY!” Ivory jumped at her name and snapped her attention forward. Her eyes widened at the sight of a very drunk Alex running toward her with arms open. She squealed and hid behind Jack, making everyone laugh beside Alex and her. “Ivy, baby! I thought you loved me!”
Ivory took one deep, settling breath and then stepped out from behind Jack. “You scared me, Alexander.” She gave him a stern look before forcing herself to let go of Jack and enter Alex’s still open arms.
“Aw, I’m sorry baby. I just got so excited when I saw your pretty face. I thought you guys were running out as soon as our set was done.” He babbled a bit as he squeezed her. Alex reeked of alcohol, smoke, and sweat and it made Ivory’s nose burn. She was more than glad when he released her and she could finally breathe fresher air, though he kept an arm around her neck and kept her body close to his.
Jack clenched his fists at his sides and gritted his teeth. Of course, by now everyone knew about his feelings for Ivory, and yet his best friend still clinged to her in front of him. Jack knew Alex was drunk and when he was drunk he clung to everything, including Jack on several occasions, but it still bugged him. He just didn’t like to see someone else around Ivory.
“So, baby, you want to come dance with me?” Alex winked at Ivory as his other hand slid down to her waist, pulling her toward him. She felt sick again and her eyes darted back to Jack as Alex started to pull her toward the mass of people.
Jack took a step forward, but then stopped as he watched the disaster unfold. Alex ran into a short kid and apparently knocked him in his already upset stomach. Half a second later there was vomit all over Alex and Ivory. Both looked disgustedly down, and then Ivory felt it in her throat.
She ran from the house, and ran from the people she knew. Luckily, she made it outside before the sick spewed from her own mouth. She closed her eyes so as not to see it anymore as she bent over. There was a comforting hand on her back as her hair was pulled away from her face. It was a calming touch that helped subside her heaving.
Ivory straightened up and kept her eyes close as she breathed in and out. “Thanks,” she muttered to the person beside her who was still softly rubbing her back to calm her down.
“Sorry I didn’t save you before,” Jack’s eyes drifted down to her shirt and he grimaced. Most of the puke from the other kid had gotten on her shirt, but he could see it on her pants and shoes too.
“How bad is it?” She asked uneasily, squeezing her eyes tight. Ivory could feel the wetness through her shirt and she didn’t dare look down. She noticed Jack’s pause and groaned.
“It’s not that bad,” he lied and she could hear it in his voice. “Here, take your shirt off.” Her eyes opened at his suggestion and she made a point of keeping her eyes on his face. Jack chuckled at her startled expression. “I’m sure your dying to get that off you, so why don’t you take it off and you can wear mine.” He explained as he slipped his shirt off and extended it to her. “Then I’ll take you home so you can shower.” Ivory smiled a little at first, but then it expanded as she took the shirt from him.
“I officially love you at this moment.” She sighed and quickly, but carefully took her own shirt off. Ivory thought of the absurdity of undressing in some stranger’s front yard, but she didn’t care at the moment. Getting the puke off of her was more important, besides, Jack had already seen most of her body unclothed.
“No one’s looking.” Jack muttered as he looked around. He knew the thoughts running across her mind almost as well as he knew his own. “Although, I think the next door neighbors are ogling at you through the window.”
“Shut up, Bassam, and take me home!” She whined after pulling the shirt over her head and down to cover her abdomen. “I smell and I feel gross!” She stomped her foot like a small kid throwing a temper tantrum.
“Alright, let’s go.” Jack chuckled some more and was brave enough to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
“Aren’t you going to tell the guy’s you’re leaving?” Ivory questioned as he started to lead her toward the road.
“I did that before I ran out after you, silly.” Jack poked her nose and she smiled. “You want some ice cream?” He asked curiously, trying to think of some way to spend a little more time with her.
“I just want a steaming, hot shower.” She groaned and pouted. “But I’ve got some ice cream in the freezer if you want some.”
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god, I love this one too; Jack's just irresistible.xooxEmber