Just Say Yes

It was Thursday afternoon and Erin was working, nothing new, but luckily for her she got off reasonably early. Lisa was off but had come into the diner to grab a bite to eat as she waited for three o'clock to come around so she could pick up Ben from school. It was a slow day so Erin had time to slack off a little and chat with Lisa who was perched at the counter sipping on a diet coke and eating a grilled cheese sandwich.

“So what are your plans for tonight?” Erin asked, as she ran a cloth over the already clean counter. She peeked over at Lisa, who was smiling while she chewed her food.

“Pick up Ben, and meet you and the fam at the bowling alley around five.” Erin smirked, her grandmother made sure the family did something together every week. When she and Jon were little and the tradition was started, bowling was the only thing in Boulder City her grandparents could think of that young children would enjoy and they could do all year round. Over the years they had lost a member, her grandfather, but gained two new ones in Lisa and Ben. It was a weekly Thursday night tradition for the five of them.

Last week it had been broken when both Lisa and Erin were scheduled to work because a few girls had booked the day off and/or had called in sick. Ironically enough, that was the very same night she had met Brian when he had wondered into the diner.

“Sounds good.” Erin nodded, absentmindedly wiped the counter over and over, her thoughts wondering back to Brian. They hadn't actually spoken since Tuesday evening, she had called him on Wednesday morning before her shift, not realizing he was probably sleeping so she left an apologetic message on his machine. When she had gotten home that evening she had a message from him, telling her not to worry, he was a heavy sleeper hardly anything woke him up, he told her he'd call her later on. He didn't. But he called her while she was working today, she only knew of this because her grandmother called the diner going on and on about how he was really angry at himself for not calling her back the night before.

“Corinne told me and Ben to be prepared for several rounds tonight.” Lisa laughed, “She wants to make up for lost time.” Lisa glanced over at Erin who looked like she was on a completely different planet than her. “Earth to Erin.” She waved a hand in front of Erin's adverted eyes.

Erin almost jumped when Lisa's hand was suddenly moving back and forth inches away from her face.

“Are you okay?” Lisa half smiled, and raised an eyebrow. Erin was embarrassed, she slowly nodded her head.

“Yeah, just thinking.” She said casually.

Lisa smiled wider. “About Brian?” She asked in a sing-song voice.

She huffed, and rolled her eyes. “You know I have other things going on in my life other than him.” Erin countered, hoping throw Lisa off but knew she would only make her more curious in the process.

“Nothing as hot.” Lisa smirked finishing off her sandwich and put her dirty napkin on the plate. Erin glared at Lisa who just smiled innocently.

“Go pick up your kid.” Erin said noticing the clock on the wall to her right, Lisa quickly glanced up at it then proceeded gather her belongings and throw them into her oversized purse.

“Fine, get rid of me.” Lisa swung her purse over her shoulder. “I'll see you at five!” She called as she left the diner, the bell on the door ringing as she did so.

- - - - - - - - -

Just over two hours later Erin was able to go home, she slowly made her way inside of the house, throwing her purse on the small table by the front door. The house was awfully quiet.

“Hello? Anyone home?” She yelled, waiting for a reply but got nothing. After taking off her shoes, she wondered up the stairs, her now bare feet hitting the cold floor beneath her. She reached the top of the stairs and heard some noise coming from Jon's room. He probably had his headphones in. She opened his door and saw him perched at his computer with headphones in his ears. “Hello?”

Jon turned his head and smiled at her, then removed the headphones from his ears. “Hey. Lisa already picked up Grandma if that's what you're wondering.” He informed her. “Grandma's gonna have your head for being late. It's five-fifteen.”

Erin laughed. “Then why are you still here?” She countered, wondering why he was still home but her grandmother wasn't.

“I have to work tonight.” He said, getting up from the chair he was sitting in and grabbed his navy blue Ace's Hardware shirt. “Can you drop me off on your way?”

Erin nodded then told him she'd be a few minutes as she changed and made herself look somewhat presentable. Within ten minutes they were out the door and on their way.

After dropping Jon off at work, Erin quickly walked into the bowling alley, and made her way towards the desk with the familiar elderly woman working behind it. She stood at the desk, smiled politely and was about to ask which lane her grandma and Lisa were at but the woman behind the counter beat her to it.

“Lane 8.” She said with a smile, Erin muttered a quick thanks before glancing at the lane numbers and went the right way. As she was heading in the right direction she saw her grandma buying a drink from the vending machine, she spotted Erin and waved her over, then pointed to lane 8. Erin ignored her pointing and walked over, her pace slowing.

“You're late.” Her grandma said, with a hand on her hip as a loud thud came form the vending machine. She bent down and removed her can of soda from the dispenser.

Erin flashed a sweet smile. “Sorry. I had to drop off Jon at work.” They began walking over to their designated lane.

“That's fine, we have a few extra players tonight.” Erin narrowed her eyes, glancing over at her grandma.

“Oh?” Erin looked to her grandma for a hint as to who it was, by the smile on her she should've known.
“We ran into some familiar faces.” Her grandma said. As they got closer to the lane they'd be using, Erin could see Lisa and Ben picking out the bowling balls to use as a guy with black hair and purple hoodie looked on. When Ben finally picked one, the guy choose his and Erin saw his face, it was Zacky. She glanced over at the seating area for their lane and perched on the couch was Brian, watching Lisa, Ben and Zacky.

“Brian!” Her grandmother yelled before Erin could stop her. Brian looked over at the woman calling his name and smiled, standing up. Erin noticed he dressed down more so than the last time she had seen him, he was in a simple dark grey t-shirt, black jeans and the ugly colored bowling shoes already on his feet.

Erin flashed him a smile as they got closer, inside she was wishing she had dressed up a little more than she had. She was currently wearing a layered pink and yellow v-neck t-shirt with a pair of jean capri pants while her hair was still in the loose braid she had done earlier in the morning before her shift.

“You two are playing two lanes over.” Her grandma said, pushing each of them gently in the right direction. Erin smiled uncomfortably, she readjusted her purse on her shoulder and tried to think of something to say.

“Well that wasn't obvious at all.” She stated sarcastically as they both walked over to their designated lane, side by side.

Brian smiled, as they neared their destination, his arm lightly brushed against hers. He felt an instant jolt of electricity, but remained calm and didn't make that known. Erin on the other hand, felt her arm immediately get hot in the spot they touched, and her breath caught in her throat. It was a strange feeling, something she hadn't felt in a very long time.

Brian cleared his throat, getting himself somewhat under control. “So are you surprised to see me?” They stopped at their lane, Erin turned her back to him and dropped her purse on the seating area.

She turned around to face him before speaking. “A little,” She answered honestly with a shrug. “but a good surprised.” Erin assured him with a smile.

Brian smiled happily, “So, are you any good at this?” He asked following her closely as she walked towards the rack of bowling balls. “Cause I'm terrible.”

Erin laughed, as she grabbed her ball. “I've been bowling for years.”

“So, in other words I'm about to get my ass handed to me. Great!” He quipped with a smile, and grabbed a ball and placed it on the active rack. Erin placed her ball down next to his and quickly changed into her bowling shoes.

“Ladies first.” He said motioning towards the already set up ten pins at the end of the lane.

“Why thank you.” She picked up her ball, placing her middle and ring finger in the two top holes and her thumb in the bottom one. She swiftly made her move, the ball started out a bit shaky but by the end it knocked down eight of ten pins. The only two left remaining were in the far left corner.

“Pretty good.” He commented casually, as she waited for her ball to return. She smiled and grabbed the ball, finishing off her turn. No pins in sight. Brian looked impressed as they passed each other, she sat next to her purse on the vinyl cushioned bench and watched him. He peaked back at her before he took his turn.

“Don't laugh.” He warned, she raised her hands innocently.

“I won't” She finished off with a smile.

He took his turn, he released a little too early and the ball was higher in the air than it normally would be and caused a loud thud through out the building. Brian winced and watched his ball roll a few feet then find its way into the gutter. Erin could see Zacky and Lisa look over smirking, mainly Zacky.

“Told you I was bad!” He said laughing at himself, she smiled softly.

“You'll get the next one.” She assured, as his ball came back. He took his turn again, this time he released it on time but it curved to the side too much and only ended up knocking down two pins.

They played for two rounds, Erin winning both obviously but Brian didn't care. They had fun and she didn't laugh at him, too much. After being horribly beaten twice, Brian suggested they get something to eat at the makeshift diner/restaurant in the bowling alley and Erin agreed.

They had asked Lisa, Zacky, Corinne and Ben if they wanted to join but Corinne insisted they go themselves. Erin rolled her eyes at that, which didn't go unnoticed by him but he figured she was just uncomfortable with somebody trying so hard to get something going between them. He could understand that, even though he was just as eager as Corinne seemed to be, but didn't show it as much.

Brian was designated to get their food and Erin went to find a table. After waiting in line for ten minutes he came back with a tray consisting of two drinks, two containers of fries and two burgers wrapped in shiny tin foil wrapping.

“You really like burgers huh?” She commented as he placed the tray down and took in what was on it.

“It's hard to screw up a burger.” He smiled widely and dug into his food like he hadn't eaten in days. After a few seconds he noticed she was sipping her drink but wasn't touching her food. “You're not a vegetarian are you?” He looked scared that she would say yes and storm off.

She giggled and shook her head. “No, just making sure this is for me since you seem to be devouring that so quickly.” She unwrapped her burger and used the tin foil wrapping as a plate for her french fries.

“Bowling makes me hungry.” He said in between bites.

“Cause its such strenuous activity.” She laughed then took some fries in her mouth.

“You should see me after actual strenuous activity.” He joked, and Erin's mind went immediately into the gutter. There were several things that were considered strenuous activity, basketball, weight lifting, running but somehow her mind immediately went to sex. She could feel her cheeks get hot but she continued on eating, hoping he wouldn't notice. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she cleared her throat, and took a quick sip of her drink. “why?”

“You're cheeks are all red.” He pointed out with a smirk, Erin tried her hardest not to blush any further. He teased her for a few more minutes then the conversation was changed which made Erin feel much more comfortable. They took turns asking each other questions, she asked him about his family, he told her his parents were divorced but his father got remarried. He told her he had a brother, a half brother and a half sister.

He then asked her about her parents, she told him her parents split up not too long after Jon turned two and her father moved to Oregon which just left the three of them and her grandparents in Nevada. Her mom worked two jobs just to be able to keep a roof over their heads. She then told him that when she was twelve her mom was in a bad car accident and didn't make it.

“Wow, I'm sorry.” He said and instantly felt horrible bringing up something that had obviously been a large turning point in both her and her brothers life.

“It's okay, really.” She assured, she had accepted and dealt with her mothers death years ago she had no problems talking about it now. “I don't mind talking about her. I actually like talking about her it makes me feel like I'm keeping her memory alive.” She finished with a smile, Brian couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief at her.

He wasn't sure how she managed to be so okay with someone she was obviously very close to being gone from her life just like that. He definitely wouldn't handle it as well as she had if he were in her shoes.

“It must have changed you a lot.” He said seriously, she shrugged.

“Yeah, it did. It made me want to be closer to my dad which was hard since he was all the way in Oregon.” She paused, he watched her look down at her drink then glanced back up at him. “But Jon and I went to visit him every summer after my mom died. We made it.”

He was seriously impressed with her at the moment. “You still talk to him?” He hoped the answer was a positive one. He wasn't ready for her to drop another sad story and feel horrible with himself for bringing up the emotions that came with it.

“Yeah he calls at least twice a week, I think hes coming for Jon's graduation in a few months.” Brian breathed a sigh of relief, while she smiled noticing him relaxing after her answer.

“So enough about me. How many tattoos do you have?” She asked diverting her eyes to his fully tattooed arms.

He laughed, glancing down at his tattoos. “Even I've lost count to be honest.” Erin laughed as well and tried to get a look at some of the art etched into his skin. He must have noticed because he moved the garbage from their food out of the way then out stretched his arms across the table so she could get a good look at them.

She smiled as her eyes scanned over all the colors and figures. She noticed that his right arm had a cemetery like theme and his left had a some kind of monster theme. Without even thinking she reached out and placed a hand on his arm, her fingers exploring and tracing over the tattoos.

Brian was somewhat surprised when she had reached out and started touching his arm, he wasn't objecting though. He did however, try to hold in his smile and fight the urge to instinctively pull away from her as her fingers were tickling his arm.

“Am I interrupting something?” Lisa asked standing a few feet away with her hands perched firmly on her hips. Erin pulled away quickly and looked over to her friend, a blush yet again creeping up on her cheeks.

“I was just showing her my tattoos.” Brian said smiling, Lisa looked back and forth at both of them suspiciously.

“Sure you were.” Lisa smiled, obviously not believing them. “Anyway, Corinne wanted me to tell you two to get your butts back out there but I see your quite busy doing...that.” Lisa flashed them a smile and went back over to Zacky, Ben and Corinne, leaving Erin shaking her head and Brian laughing.

Brian then got up from the table and gathered up the garbage from their meals, throwing it in a near by trash can, then stuck out his hand for her to take.

“Shall we?” He asked, she laughed softly then put her hand in his as he helpd her get to her feet. They began walking back to their lane to finish their two remaining games. Neither one really noticed that they were holding hands the entire time.