Just Say Yes

The following day, Erin was enjoying her morning of sleeping in, normally she had to work Saturdays but she had been lucky this week and had gotten it off. She was snug in her warm bed sleeping soundly but her grandmas voice and loud knocking on her door woke her up.

Erin slowly sat up, running a hand through her hair and her eyes half open. She really hoped it wasn't her grandma coming to ask her questions about Brian, yet again. Especially this early. She had spent a half an hour last night dodging her grandma's prying questions before she gave up and went to bed in defeat.

“Yeah?” She asked, groggily covering her upper body back up with the blankets, not wanting to get out from under them.

“Erin the phone's for you.” She heard her grandma say, then opened the door. Erin gave her grandma a puzzled look, who would be calling her this early on a Saturday? “It's the sheriff. He's asking to talk to you.”

Erin was confused, why would the sheriff need to talk to her? Had she done something? She couldn't think of anything she'd ever done that could be considered illegal other than getting the odd speeding ticket. Her grandma stepped into the room and walked towards her, handing Erin the phone when she got close enough.

Her grandma sat next to her in bed, pulling the blankets up over both of them. Erin brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Erin? This is Sheriff McDonald.” She heard a deep male voice say on the other end.

“Good morning.” She greeted trying to sound as cheery as she could but coming across more nervous than anything. Her grandma rubbed her arm soothingly, obviously seeing her nervousness.

“I'm sorry to bother you so early but I have two men here and one of them kept telling my officer to contact you.”

“Oh,” Erin paused, glancing over at her grandma. “who is it?”

“One keeps calling himself Gates.” Erin silently laughed to herself, of course Brian and Zacky would get themselves into trouble. “He won't give us his real name.”

“Does the other one have dark hair, tattoos and piercings?” She asked, she saw her grandma smirk out of the corner of her eye.

“So you do know them.” He said, as more of a statement than a question.

“I do. Are they being held for anything or...?” She asked, wondering if she was required to bring any kind of bail money, not that she had much to spare.

“Just public intoxication, but I need someone to pick them up.”

“Um, sure. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.” Erin hung up the phone and her grandma looked eager to hear what was going on.

“That boy from the diner got himself in trouble?” She asked, Erin laughed getting out of bed and felt the cold air hit her exposed legs. She shivered and saw the goosebumps to break out along her arms. She continued her way over to her dresser, in search of clothes.

“Grandma, he's not a boy, that makes him sound like he's twelve which he definitely is not.” Erin looked through her drawers and pulled out a dark pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a light pink pullover. She started to undress, not really bothering if her grandma was there or not.

“Fine, man then. He's gotten himself in trouble?” Her grandma asked with a smirk as Erin pulled on her jeans and slipped her t-shirt over her head.

“Yeah, well...public intoxication.” She turned to face her grandma, her sweatshirt in her hands. “He's not being charged with anything, him and his friend just need to be picked up.” Her grandma nodded, as Erin pulled the sweatshirt over head, messing her already bedhead ridden hair.

“He seems interesting.” Her grandma said, ready to start prying again. Erin smiled and stared at herself in the mirror. She ran a brush through her long blonde hair gently, getting rid of the messy bedhead look.

“Yeah, you don't know the half of it.” She gathered her hair in her hands and attempted to tie it up into a ponytail. After a few unsuccessful attempts she gave up and left it as it was. She huffed, and sat back down beside her grandma, who looked at her expectantly. “If I tell you something about him, promise you won't say anything?” Erin looked up at her grandma with pleading eyes.

Her grandma looked concerned, but nodded. Erin sighed dramatically. “He's a rock-star.” Her grandma laughed loudly, which left Erin really confused.

“I don't mean to laugh dear, but you had me thinking he was some kind of gang member or something.” Her grandma's laughter subsided, as she placed an arm gently around Erin's shoulders. “Why don't you want me to say anything?”

“Cause Jon is a huge fan of his band and Brian hasn't told me about it. I only found out because of a poster Jon has of them.” She said, remembering back to the night she saw the poster and thought maybe she had been seeing things, but there was no way it wasn't Brian or Zacky. They were pretty unmistakable.

“Maybe there's a reason he's not telling you.” Erin shrugged. Her grandma started running her fingers through Erin's hair softly. “Do you like him?”

“I've known him for less than forty-eight hours.” Erin couldn't remember the last time she spent so much time with a guy, that wasn't Jon or a co-worker at the diner.

“Some people know the second they meet someone.”

“Okay, I like him. He's easy to talk to, funny...”

“Attractive.” Her grandma threw in, Erin laughed softly.

“And that.” She paused for a moment, picking at the loose threads on the blanket covering her legs. “He asked me last night if he could look me up next time he's going to Vegas.”

Erin could feel her grandmas body perk up at the comment. “What did you say?” She asked, eagerly.

“You interrupted before I could say anything.” Her grandma squeezed Erin close to her body, apologetically.

“Oh dear, I'm sorry.” She said, laying her head softly on top of Erin's.

Erin laughed. “It's okay, I'm glad you did.”

“Why's that?”

“Because I don't want to be just some girl from Boulder City, who he had a good time with for a night.” She said, dejected. She wanted to believe Brian was more than the average guy, but it was hard to think that after being proven wrong by so many others. Her grandmas free hand gently touched her cheek and turned her face so that they were now looking at each other.

“Sweetie, you'll never be just some girl.” Her grandma leaned forward and kissed her forehead lightly. “And if that's all he wants then I have a shot gun in the basement to scare him with.”

Erin burst out laughing. “That's so country of you, grandma.”

Erin's laughter died down after a few seconds, but a smile remained on her face as she felt her grandmothers fingers continue to run through her hair. Her eye lids slowly closed and felt herself slipping back to sleep.

“You should go pick up your convicts.” Her grandma stated jokingly, removing her fingers from Erin's hair. Erin opened her eyes, then glanced over at her grandma who was smiling widely. Erin got up from the bed, she quickly pulled up her hair into a loose ponytail and grabbed her purse sitting by her bedroom door. She waved a quick goodbye to her grandma then was off.

About twenty minutes later, Erin found herself pulling into the parking lot of the sheriff's station. It was only seven-thirty, the town was still quiet so she made it there quite easily. She got out of the car, squinting her eyes as the sun had already risen for the day. She grabbed her purse from the backseat and made her way towards the station. When she walked in, it was surprisingly quiet. She walked towards the desk, where there was an officer doing some paperwork.

“Excuse me?” She said, keeping her voice low. The officer looked up from his paperwork, she recognized him, he came into the diner quite a bit but she couldn't remember his name. She could only recall that he was a transfer from another county and one day had told her the differences between his old job and his new one. “I was called by the sheriff about the two guys that are being held.”

“The jackasses in the drunk tank?” He said, obviously not amused by Brian's or Zacky's antics.

“That would be them.” She smiled sweetly, watching as he looked for some paperwork. “Just curious, who brought them in?”

He sighed, flipping through papers. He held one up, studying it. “That would be,” He paused as his eyes scanned the document. “Officer Waller.”

Erin narrowed her eyes, “David Waller?” She scoffed, she should've known he would do something like this. He was never one to let things go, however Brian didn't exactly listen to her about David's anger. She just hoped that he didn't get physical with them, David was a big guy.

“Yes Ma'am.” The officer said, he held out a document to her. “If you wouldn't mind signing this.” When she took it, he pointed to a line at the bottom of the page for her to sign.

“I thought they weren't being held for anything?”

“They aren't but we keep a record of everything, that's how the sheriff wants it.” He answered her, then went to the holding area in the back after he told her he was going to get Brian and Zacky.

Erin tapped her nails against the desk as she waited for her felons to arrive. While waiting she took the time to look around the station, despite living in Boulder City her whole life she had never been inside the place. The stark white walls and white linoleum floors made it seem almost hospital like, the bright fluorescent lights didn't help either.

By the entrance, there was a small seating area that consisted of decorative green plant placed in between six wooden chairs that were lined up against the wall and a water cooler in the corner. The large built in desk she was standing in front of was made of a dark wood, that carried over to the desks in the back office area and added some much needed color to the plain white station.

Just as she was studying the archaic computers on the desks, she heard footsteps coming her way, then as they rounded the corner she saw Zacky and Brian, both looking like they hadn't slept at all last night. They didn't look beaten or bruised which was a good thing.

“You guys look like hell.” She stated honestly, Zacky half smiled and Brian simply yawned.

“I better not see you two back here.” The officer gave both of them stern looks before going back behind his desk to finish his paperwork.

“Thanks for coming to get us.” Brian said as he followed Zacky and Erin out of the station. Once they were outside, she turned and smiled at him.

“No problem, I'm sorry about David bringing you guys in.” She was completely embarrassed that they had spent the night in a jail cell because of her. Brian shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Is there anything I can do?”

“We left our car at the bar. Would you mind driving us back there?” Zacky asked, as Brian yawned again. He looked absolutely drained, Erin felt ridiculously bad.

“Of course.” She motioned over to her car, the only one in the parking lot that wasn't a squad car. “Get in.”

“Shot gun!” Zacky yelled and ran over to the passenger door, excited at his victory. Erin smiled, Jon did the same thing to her when they were younger and they were going somewhere in the car. Brian didn't say a word, he just hopped in the backseat and Erin walked over to the drivers side.

As soon as she sat down in her seat, Brian punched Zacky in the arm. Zacky winced.

“What the fuck?” He yelled, Brian just smirked. Erin shook her head at the two and started up the car. They drove in silence for a bit, before Erin felt the need to ask about what happened.

She glanced quickly over at Zacky who was staring out his window, then glanced back at Brian through her rear view mirror, only to see him with his head against the window, sleeping. She smiled to herself then spoke softly to Zacky. “So what happened last night?”

“Uh, I was with Lisa at the bar, then you and Brian disappeared.” Erin scoffed at him, as she turned at the designated intersection.

“No, you and Lisa disappeared so then I walked home and Brian insisted he join me.” Erin informed him, then glanced over at him suspiciously. “Did you and Lisa... hook up?” She peaked out of the corner of her eye as Zacky smiled. “Oh my god, did you?” Her voice got higher.

Zacky laughed. “No, we just hung out. We went out to the back so I could smoke and she came with me.” Erin narrowed her eyes, not sure if she believed him or not, he noticed. “I swear, nothing happened. She is cute though.”

Erin shook her head smiling. “Yes, she is.” Erin saw the bar coming into view. “But what I really wanted to know was what happened with David?” Zacky gave her a blank look. “The guy who brought you guys in.”

“Oh, uh. Me and Brian were heading to the car and then he just came out of nowhere. He punched him in the stomach, completely winded Brian. Then he said this town doesn't tolerate public intoxication.” Erin pulled into the bar parking lot which was empty except for Zacky's vehicle.

“David punched him? Did Brian fight back?” Erin glanced back at Brian who was still sound asleep against the window in the backseat.

“Nah, he just laughed it off.” Erin nodded, feeling even more terrible Brian had been punched in the stomach and spent a night in a cell because of her. “I should wake his ass up.” Zacky said, turning in his seat, he made a fist and hit Brian in the arm, hard.

Brian's eyes opened and he cursed before giving Zacky a dirty look, Brian went to retaliate but Zacky jumped out of the car before he could, then proceeded to taunt Brian after he made his escape. Brian was now leaning in between the driver and passenger seats, staring after his friend. Erin laughed at their antics, then glanced over at Brian, who was extremely close.

“I'm really sorry.” She said softly, Brian looked at her seeing the honesty in her face. He smirked.

“It's no big deal, you think that's the first time I've spent a night in jail?” He played it off as no big deal, and maybe he had spent previous nights in jail but she still felt bad that this time was because of her.

“That's not the point.” She gave him a pointed look. He laughed, and leaned down closer.

“No, the point is you still haven't answered my question from last night.” Her breath hitched in her throat, she wasn't sure what to say or do. “But I'll give you til tomorrow, you work right?”

“Until six.” She answered almost breathlessly.

“We're heading home tomorrow, so I need an answer by then.” He noticed her nervousness, he hoped that was a sign that she was interested but reluctant and just needed time. He had patience. He moved away from her and hopped out of the back of the car. He waved to her then began to chase after Zacky who was halfway between her car and theirs.

She would've laughed at the two of them acting like kids, but she was still trying to recover from Brian being so close. Her breathing was still uneven, and she could feel her heart racing in her chest. Tomorrow she would have to give him an answer, whether she was ready to or not.