Life Isn't All That Bad

Garrett jumped in surprise when Beau slid her hand into his. The whole night, she'd obviously been trying to escape any touchy-feely moments. Even when he'd just put his arm around her shoulders so that he wouldn't lose her in the crowd, she had quickly escaped his grip. But now, she was the one who had grabbed his hand. Garrett forced himself to relax, tightening his grip on her hand.

They entered the Nickelsen home quietly. Except for the front door light, the house was pitch black; a sign that the family was obviously sleeping. Garrett gently pulled on her hand, leading her down into the basement. He flipped a switch, lighting up the room. The basement contained various instruments; a drum set, a microphone, an old guitar, and Garrett's bass. But in his basement, there was also a small pullout bed, a television, and a vast collection of DVDs.

"Is there anything specific you want to watch? I'm sure I have it," Garrett said, removing the cushions from the sofa so he could pull out the bed. Beau just stood awkwardly in the doorway, shifting back and forth on her feet.

"Um, s-something scary, I guess," she mumbled, stuttering as she did so. Garrett watched the way she gnawed on her lip, obviously looking everywhere but him. Garrett knew how she felt. He was just as awkward and shy as she was.

"We could watch a zombie movie?" Garrett offered with a smile.

Her eyes darted towards him, a large grin spreading across her face. "Yes!" She exclaimed, her excitement masking her stutter.

Garrett chuckled at her enthusiasm, putting Dawn of the Dead into the DVD player. Once he got everything set up, he kicked off his shoes, stretching out on half of the bed.

Beau timidly walked towards the bed. She quickly untied the laces of her boots, sliding them off her feet, before sitting down on the bed. Her emerald eyes glanced over at Garrett, seeing that his icy eyes were watching her. Beau wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. She wasn’t trying to be a bitch and sit as far away from him as possible, but she'd never really been alone with guys. Sure, she'd spent time with male family members, and she'd been alone with Danny all the time, but neither of those counted.

Beau was alone with an incredibly attractive boy; that alone was enough to make her self-conscious. But now she was supposed to share a bed with him while they watched a movie?

"I don’t bite, you know, " Garrett remarked, noticing the distance the girl had put between them. It was visible on her face how uncomfortable she was. "You don’t have to be afraid of me..."

"Sorry," she mumbled, her cheeks turning bright red. Garrett felt bad for embarrassing the girl. But it seemed like everything he did made her blush. Garrett was thankful that his cheeks were usually pink anyway, so no one could really tell when he was blushing. Beau bit down on her lip, stretching out her legs as she scooted closer to Garrett.

Once she was close enough, Garrett put his arm around her, pulling her body close to his. He was almost never so blunt, but he had this feeling that if he didn’t do anything, she wouldn’t either.

On screen, the main character was busy fighting off her newly zombified husband. While this happened, Beau was chewing on her lower lip, trying to decide if she should pull away from Garrett or not. She decided to be daring, and snuggled against his side. It surprised Garrett that she didn’t pull away like she had been doing all day.

As the movie continued on, Garrett lost all interest in it. His attention was completely captured by the girl next to him. Her green eyes were fixed on the TV screen. Every now and then, she'd push her glasses up a little farther on the bridge of her nose, or she'd run her fingers through her hair. He'd never seen anyone so captivating.

Garrett couldn’t understand how anyone so beautiful could be so shy. Finally their movie came to an end and a small smile spread across her face. "That's such a good movie," she said, before letting out a small yawn.

"You seem tired. Want to go home?" Garrett asked, feeling pretty tired himself.

Beau just shook her head, messing up her dark hair. "Let's watch another movie," she said, snuggling closer. Once she'd gotten over the initial awkwardness of cuddling with a boy, she relaxed, and grew comfortable with his presence so close to her's.

"What do you want to watch?" He asked, getting up to set up the next movie. His side felt cold and empty without her.

She let out a soft hum as she thought of what movie to watch. "Do you have Fight Club?"

Garrett looked over at her in amazement. She liked zombies and Fight Club? He definitely had to be dreaming. This girl was all just part of his imagination and she couldn't possibly be real. "Of course I have Fight Club," he said, putting the DVD in. "This is one of my favorite movies," he explained, climbing back onto the bed.

"Mine too," Beau smiled sleepily, waiting for Garrett to lay back down so she could curl up next to him.. "Nothing better then watching guys beat each other to a bloody pulp," she murmured against his side.

It was obvious that she'd never make it through the whole movie, let alone the first half hour. She was dozing fast, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Garrett knew he should have taken her home, but he was tired too.

It wasn’t like they were doing anything bad. Why would it matter if they both just happened to fall asleep down here?

Garrett thought back to his very brief conversation with Kennedy at the party.

"Kenny, bro, you're gonna have to take Liz home tonight. I'm taking Beau home," he'd explained, glancing over at the anxious brunette beside him.

"Taking a girl home? Well this is a rare occasion," Kennedy chuckled, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

Garrett's jaw dropped, his cheeks heating up instantly. "It's not- it isn’t like that... I just..." Was it really that obvious that he was developing a crush on her?

Kennedy just waved him off, ignoring his flustered rambled. Garrett turned back to Beau, wrapping his arm around her as they pushed through the crowded home.

Fight Club was still playing, but he'd long since forgotten about it. Garrett looked down at the now sleeping girl at his side. Her glasses were a little crooked. Her side rose and fell softly as she breathed deeply in her sleep. He simply couldn’t understand why she was so shy. Beau was practically flawless.

She was pretty. She liked zombies and videogames. She wasn’t afraid of horror movies. She listened to Ryan Adams. She was everything Garrett wanted.

Garrett ended up drifting off, his thoughts still focused on the girl in his arms. But his nap was short-lived, for what felt like seconds later, a loud yell shattered his peaceful sleep.

"Bro, what the hell is this?"