Love That Leaps Without A Shove

I had left the house at 6 am, all I had to say was that Joe owed me his life so far, I hated waking up early. Come to think of it, I barely slept the previous night, all thanks to him. Fuck…

The flight was six hours, six dreadful hours sitting in a plane with strange people and me trying to act calm. No, I wasn’t scared of flying… I was scared of what awaited me in California. What if he really loved her?
Could he erase me from his memory if she demanded it? I had never thought of getting back together with Joe until this day. I knew we were good friends and I wanted it to stay that way. I wasn’t gonna let some skank take him from me.
I realized how absurd this sounded. I was on my way to Los Angeles in order to ruin the wedding of my friend.
And what would I get from all this if I succeeded? Marry Joe? Hell no. Marriage was out of the question. If I could keep Joe a bachelor forever, I would be happy.

Still, what was going on in my mind was just crazy. Different scenarios, shit and idiotic ideas… I was sad but this wasn’t my fault. I hadn’t decided out of the blue to marry someone I hardly knew… someone that wasn’t even legal drinking age for fuck’s sake. Elyssa wouldn’t even be able to drink at her wedding!
Son of a fucking bitch, I thought and slammed my fist on the armrest.

Two or three people gave me a funny look.

I did look demented. I hadn’t slept, I didn’t even brush my hair, it probably looked like a red rat’s nest right now.
And no make-up on… yeah, people were thinking that I had just escaped a mental institute. I should have called my parents and tell them I was going to be out of town, or maybe that they were never going to see me again. Ever. Because I would die somewhere along the way. Either on this plane ride or the moment I would see that Elyssa. Damn, even her name had a cute factor in it. Joe and Elyssa Perry. Elyssa and Joe.

They were probably a dream couple, sitting together and cuddling all the time. I bet she made him take her on boat rides… now, I wouldn’t know where he’d take her on boat rides but just from her name, I could tell that she was that kind of girl.
The sappy romance type of girl, the girl that liked to kiss during movies and squeal when Joe would give her a present.

The plane was up in the air, I stared out of the window, thinking how far California really was if I were to walk there. Technology sometimes amazed me, being able to fly to a place just like that…

I fell asleep to the thoughts of nothing, just watching the clouds and the wing of the plane

**

About seven hours later, I was searching for my luggage, waiting while everybody else got their suitcases much faster than I.
And apparently, I looked suspicious by the authorities, so I was searched. Looking tired didn’t mean I was stoned and carrying drugs on me in the fucking airport.

I saw my dusty old suitcase and grabbed it within seconds, not wanting to spend any longer here. The whiny kids and the grumpy adults were driving me nuts.

I walked ahead, pulling my suitcase behind me, thankfully it didn’t weigh a ton; I wasn’t feeling the urge to take one million different clothes with me.

The terminal was crowded, how was I even supposed to find him here? Seriously, what did he want, me to scream his name and he’d miraculously appear in front of my eyes.
I pushed people on my way to the exit, wishing they’d all die so I would get out of here faster.

That’s when I saw him, with his back towards me. I was being rude but I would recognize that ass everywhere.
Tight, high-waisted pants and the shirt tucked in, nice boots, leather jacket. For sure he had his shirt open half-way; it was a very Joe thing to do, he always wore his shirts that way. His hair was a bit longer compared to the last time I saw him.
He was talking to somebody, so I walked right behind him and leaned towards his ear.

“Mr. Cool motherfucker.”

He stopped talking and stalled for a second; I had probably scared the shit out of him. I tended to always greet people by scaring them.
He turned around and engulfed me in a tight bear hug. I saw Steven, while Joe was squeezing the shit out of me. I said hi with my eyes and Steven smiled, knowing that it would probably take a while until we’d be able to talk.

“Okay okay! You miss me, I get it!” I mock-complained.

He pulled away, still holding me by the arms. “Look at you all grown up. You gained some weight?”

I glared at him.

“Lily, he means you ‘gained’ weight,” Steven explained, making hand gestures that apparently meant my tits got bigger. I stared down at my chest.

“Seriously?”

Steven laughed and pushed Joe aside rudely, hugging me.

“We missed your ass,” he said out loud. I heard an old lady choke. Ah, the usual Steven Tyler…

So like that, I assigned Steven as the luggage carrier, while Joe and I spoke, making small-talk.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married…”

“I know, its unreal but wait until you meet her,” he said dreamily. I saw Steven roll his eyes quite obviously. Joe ignored him. Hmm, so maybe I wasn’t the only one disapproving all this?

“She’s not pregnant or anything right?” I asked.

Joe almost choked. “Of course not! Come on, cut me some slack, I don’t knock up chicks left, right and center.”

“Just asking…”

Their car was waiting outside, so Steven threw my suitcase in the trunk and we got in, me in the middle, just to be sure they wouldn’t fight about anything.
The ride was quiet because I was looking out of the window most of the time while the guys chatted about music and such. Los Angeles was a nice place but I loved Boston, it was my kind of town. Deep down, I knew the guys felt the same way.

“Let’s go out tonight, have a bachelor party!” Steven cried out, completely out of the blue. Joe and I stared at each other, then looked at Steven.

“You mean strippers?” asked Joe. “I don’t think that’s ap-”

“Heck yes strippers! Lily wants to see some strippers, don’t you Lily?”

I shrugged, I wouldn’t have much of a choice anyway. “Sure, why not.”

“See, Lily wants to relive her youth back when she table-danced!” Steven said, laughing his heart out. Joe let out a laugh as well, covering his mouth.

“It was one time! I was wasted and gave Tom a lap dance, can’t we forget about it?” I said, pouting and crossing my arms over my chest like a child.

“Sure honey, we can forget,” answered Steven, deciding he couldn’t laugh any longer because he’d cause stomach problems to himself.

“Not sure that Tom will ever forget though,” mumbled Joe, as they both started laughing again. I smiled, enjoying the sound of those two and not feeling that bad about the merciless picking I was going to go through during my stay here.

The car stopped outside the Sheraton hotel, in downtown Los Angeles.

“I’m staying here?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“We’re all staying here,” Joe stated. “Record company pays for it all…”

So I followed them like a little silly girl while other girls chassed Steven around. All he did was life his shades down, wink at them and they would squeal like pigs in heat. I knew he was just playing around with them, but I felt sorry about their lack of maturity; did they really think they’d bag him and keep him loyal?
Wait, who was I to speak?

“What you thinking about?” Joe asked as we were in the elevator. Steven had gone hunting…

“Just shit.”

"I missed you Lily, really missed you,” he said, flashing me that crooked smile of his timidly.

“Right back at you.”
He tugged on my hand and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Oh no… I remember the last time I had that feeling.

“This is us.”
The doors opened and thank god, we were no longer in a confined space; I wouldn’t bare it any longer if he was so close to me. I had to resist.

He handed me a key.
“I’m right next door but from what I’ve seen, our rooms are joined, so all you need to do is unlock that door if you need anything.”

He flashed me a smile and disappeared in the confines of his room, while I stood in front of my door, trying to breathe.
Five minutes later, I opened the door of my room, 802 and went straight for the bed, not even taking a look at anything else. Everything blacked put in a matter of seconds. Thank god.

**

“Hehe, she looks funny.”

“Shhhhhhhhh, wait until we take the fucking picture. Then speak!”

There was a flash imprinted in my eyes and I groggily woke up, watching people scramble to hide around. What the fuck?

I pulled myself up off the soft mattress that had been nursing my body for the past few hours. I took a look around the room and could see a blonde head peaking over a couch. The guy was too tall to hide behind there successfully.
That guy was Tom Hamilton.

That must mean that Joey and Brad must be around here somewhere. I got up and looked under my bed. I waved hi to Brad, he meekly waved back, knowing I’d scream in his face once all my senses were awoken.

“Joey!” I shouted, tapping my foot on the floor.

There was a cough and Joey came out of the closet, holding a camera. I glared at him, opening my hand out to him.
He carefully placed the camera in my open palm.

“And now the film.”

He grinned, pulling the film out of his pocket. “Haven’t changed Lily,” he laughed.

“And I can see you guys are still dickheads and mentally impaired. Good to know.”

Tom stood up behind the couch. He smiled from ear to ear.

“Can I hug you now?” he asked.

I laughed, motioning him to come over. Tom was my weakness almost, I loved him and his sense of humor, so sarcastic and with perfect timing. He hugged me and lifted me off my feet, while Brad and Joey gathered around the tv, flicking through channels.

Tom and I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at each other for a while, trying to find possible changes.

“I hear they call you Mr. Sweet Emotion nowadays,” I teased.

“Haha, well, just wait until you hear Steven explain the lyrics, you’ll want to hear that story.”

“What story?” I asked, excited.

“Just wait and see, you’ll be getting a lot of info surrounding those matters while you’re here,” he laughed, falling behind and lying on his back. “So tell me, how’s life as a big journalist?”

I sighed. “Horrible, I’m never going to have an important piece to give. They don’t invest in me the way they should…”

“Aw Lils, just give it time, it will work out.”

I gave him a sad little smile.

“Hey guys, we heard something about strippers and Lily pole-dancing for us,” Joey piped in.

“The pole-dancing is a rumor that Steven made up in his sick mind,” I groaned, joining Tom on the mattress. I rested face-down, smelling the wonderful clean sheets.

“So get ready and let’s head down to the club!” shouted Brad, already out the door. I groaned again, even louder and grabbed a handful of clothes and locking myself in the bathroom. Ten minutes later I was ready, just added some eyeliner and not even bothering to brush my hair.

I opened my door to the hallway, they were out there, waiting. I was greeted by a variety of complaints about how long it had taken me to just put another pair of pants and so on. I trudged behind Joey and Brad, while Tom, Steven and I waited as Joe was locking his room.

He looked glorious even though he hadn’t changed, still in the same clothes. And for some odd reason, Steven was wearing his stage clothes. By that, I meant a colorful bodysuit with something that looked like a cape.
Steven could pull it off but if anybody else wore it, they’d probably end up looking like a clown. Well, he sure acted like a clown sometimes.

So the bad boys from Boston and I, the nothing from Boston, walked out on the dark streets of Los Angeles, seeking only the best strip club to celebrate Joe’s departure from the bachelor club.

This could only mean one hell of a crazy night.