Wonderwall

John banged on Darcy’s door impatiently and rolled his eyes as she yelled at him to come in. He groaned as he saw the clothes strewn around her bed at first, but then he saw her come from the closet in just her towel.

“Darc! What the hell? We’re supposed to be leaving in like two seconds to help Moose set up.” His eyes widened as he ran a hand through his hair. “You’re in a towel, Darc.”

“Well thanks for the obvious observation, John.” Darcy smiled sarcastically. “I’m totally lost without you.” She sighed as she glanced over the mess in her new room. “I don’t know what to wear.” She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Just pick something and throw it on.” He shrugged and started to pick up random items. “We have to go.”

“I’m not riding with you, John.” Darcy spoke carefully so as not to hurt his feelings, but it didn’t matter. He still had puppy eyes when he turned toward her with his mouth open. “Don’t give me that look.”

“How are you supposed to even get there? You don’t know where Moose lives.”

“I don’t even know who Moose is.” Darcy corrected and fidgeted with a lock of her hair. “But Kenny’s driving me.” Her cheeks burned as she avoided John’s eyes. He chuckled and dropped the random items in his hands that clearly didn’t match.

“Ah, this is what? The third date?” John smirked while Darcy rolled her eyes. He grabbed a new set of clothes and handed them to her. She noticed that they were more skimpy clothes now though and dropped them on the ground.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Course you do, Darc. Kenny took you out to ice cream. You invited him to spend an entire afternoon in your room. And now you’re going to a party together. That is one, two, three, my dear little cousin.” He counted them off on his fingers and laughed as she glared at him.

“There’s like nineteen days between our birthdays John.”

“Yes, small one.” He nodded and ruffled her wet hair, making it knot up around his fingers.

“Ow, you a hole!” Darcy tried swatting his hand away but it was stuck. “Get your hand out of my hair!”

“I’m trying.” John was laughing hysterically as he attempted to untangle his hand from the wet strands.

“Ugh! You mofo, I’m going to ki—Ow!” She screamed as tears sprung in her eyes. John frowned and apologized as he worked harder on the untangling. He finally got it and stepped back to see her pouting.

“I’m sorry, Darc.” He apologized again and squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll see you later. Come find me when you show up, kay?”

“So you can make me a drink?” She arched one eyebrow and his smirk worked its way back on his mouth.

“That’s how we party in Tempe.” He put his hands up and tilted his head. Darcy laughed and shook her head as she pushed John toward the door.

“You’re such a retard, John Oh.”

“Love you Darcy.”

She smiled and leaned her head on the doorway as she watched him walk backwards down the hall. “Love you too John.” She waved a little and waited until she heard the front door close before she turned back to her disaster of a room.

She groaned as she trudged through the clothes again. She returned to her previous quest of putting music on. Since she was alone, she decided to put in Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop. It made her giggle to listen to it as she pictured John flailing around as he probably did when he sang.

She briefly thought of Kennedy too. She knew she’d been told what he did in the band before, but she couldn’t remember it now. She didn’t see him as a drummer, but that still left both the bass and the guitar. She made a mental note to ask later, and ask the others what they did.

Then she squared her shoulders, finding no more distractions to keep her from the task of actually getting dressed. She didn’t want to end up too dressy or too casual, but she wanted to be comfortable. She thought back to what John had been wearing before he left and ended up with a pair of shorts and a plain top.

She blow dried her hair but then threw it up in a ponytail so it wouldn’t be a bother later. She fidgeted with makeup as she stared in the mirror. She didn’t really feel like adding a whole bunch to her face so she put on a coat of mascara and left it at that.

The stereo shut off after the album was over and she tiptoed over to her record collection that Kennedy had neatly stacked. She was picking through them when she heard the doorbell. Her nose scrunched up as she glanced at the only clock in her room and frowned. She hadn’t realized how the time had literally just flown by.

Darcy left the records and grabbed her sandals with a light jacket before she went toward the door. She made sure the back door was locked and her keys were in her pocket before she opened the front door and stepped out.

Kennedy smiled instantly as he watched her turn to lock the door behind her. His eyes wandered down her body and he had to admit she looked good. Her long legs were the kind boys dreamed about, and her shirt clung to her curves without being too tight. He had to tear his focus from straying as he licked his lips and greeted her.

“Hey Darcy.”

“Hi Kenny.”

She grinned and he totally lost his train of thought. He cursed loudly inside his mind as she gave him a weird look before leading the way toward his car. He skipped ahead hurriedly and opened her door for her.

“Thanks.” She mumbled and smiled again. He shook his head as he walked over to the driver’s side. He couldn’t believe he was this nervous over nothing. It wasn’t like he was on an official date with her or anything. There would be plenty of other people at the party, and he’d probably lose her ten seconds after they entered anyway. They were just riding together. That was it.

Kennedy glanced at her as he turned around to backup and his throat swelled. A part of him was wishing he could keep her all to himself. He fought it though and told himself it was just because she looked good. It was just some physical attraction. He snorted at that.

“Something funny?” Darcy tilted her head to the side so she could watch him as he drove. His eyes widened as he opened his mouth but nothing came out, which made her giggle. “Calm down, Kenny. I’m only teasing.” She placed her hand on his arm in a gentle manner but she felt him stiffen at her touch so she removed it and placed her hands in her lap. “So, who all is going to be at this shin-dig?”

The corners of his mouth twitched upward. “Mostly it’ll be just old classmates, co-workers, friends.” He shrugged. “But then Moose’s parties attract some pretty strange kids nowadays.”

“Sounds great.”

“It’s nothing to worry about.” He tried to reassure her as he glanced over and saw her fiddling with her hands. “Though you might want to tone down the …” he trailed off as he took one hand off the steering wheel to do a poor imitation of signing the one word he knew.

“The weirdness?” Darcy laughed and he grinned as he glanced at her again.

“You’re not weird, Darc. It’s just, these are small-town people, and sometimes they’re small minded too.” He spoke uneasily, but truthfully. He’d experienced how cruel small towns can be years ago and he was only trying to protect Darcy from it.

“Well, thanks for the heads up.” She laced her fingers and bounced her leg a little. “Are you nervous at all?” The question took him by surprise. Of course he was nervous but he was not about to admit that. Especially not to her.

“Nah,” he shook his head and then made a face. He sounded like an idiot, yet again.

“I guess you wouldn’t be. You do this all the time. Honestly though, I’m really nervous.” Darcy exhaled loudly and Kennedy cut his eyes toward her. “I haven’t been to anything like this since I was seventeen, and even then it wasn’t this big.” She admitted and then bit her bottom lip.

“You’re nervous about the party?” He felt ridiculous for thinking she was talking about their ‘date’ and briefly wondered if there would ever be a moment where he wasn’t either embarrassed or shocked around her.

“Just a lot.” She laughed tensely and then tried a big fake smile. “I mean, it’s nothing really. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She hesitated. “After a few drinks.”

Kennedy chuckled and nodded. “Alright, that’ll be our first mission then. What’s your favorite drink?”

“Daiquiri’s, but I don’t suspect there’ll be any.”

“Yeah, Moose keeps it pretty basic. Hard liquor and beer.”

“In that case, whiskey.” Darcy confidently smiled at Kennedy as he parked the car on the side of the street.

“You drink whiskey?” He raised his eyebrows and felt his lips tugging into a returning smile.

“It’s second best to Daiquiri’s.” She shrugged and then glanced around. There were quite a few cars lined around one house in particular. She picked John’s out almost immediately and giggled. “I still can’t believe he named his car Moonbeam.”

He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to question the somewhat random statement, but smiled as his eyes drifted over to what she was staring at. “We were drunk.” He laughed and got out of the car. His smile widened as he listened to her laugh too.

“That always seems to be your excuse.” She playfully teased him as she stopped at the front of his car. There were a lot of other cars around, which meant there were probably a lot of people already inside the house. Darcy was apprehensive, because as much as she wanted to let go she was still just a quiet good girl on the inside. She swallowed hard and felt the warmth suddenly wrap around her hand. She looked down and then slowly raised her eyes to his.

He gave the best reassuring smile he could muster as he squeezed her hand in his. “Ready?”

She inhaled deeply and nodded before plastering a wide grin to her face. “Let’s get some whiskey.” She giggled and he chuckled as he led her towards the front door.

The place was calmer than she expected. There were people chilling on the couches. A couple of boys were sitting on the ground, playing a video game. A few more people were standing around the room, talking and laughing with plastic cups in hand. Darcy clung to Kennedy as she searched faces.

Kennedy continued to lead her straight to the kitchen. There were more people in there, most of them giggling as they invented new mixed drinks. He only let go of her hand when he went to grab a cup and make her a drink. Darcy smiled as she watched him pour a little of the brown liquid and then glance at her.

“Keep going, darling. I intend to fully lose consciousness tonight.” She joked but then bit her lip because she wasn’t actually joking. Kennedy laughed and shook his head as he continued to fill the cup to a decent amount. He handed it to her and smiled as she sipped at it. “What about you? What’s your poison?” She smirked as he laughed some more.

“Alcohol in general, I guess. Tonight I think I’m just going to stick to beer though.” He went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle.

“Pansy.” She mumbled and then smirked as he turned around.

“Maybe I’ll take a few sips from your cup too.”

“Psht, get your own.” Darcy turned on her heel and giggled as she started to walk back to the living room. Kennedy didn’t let her get that far though. He quickly grabbed her free hand again and laced their fingers.

His hand rarely left hers for the rest of the night. He would break the contact when he would stop to shake hands or hug some people, but he would always return when he introduced her. He would give her another reassuring squeeze too, as an attempt to calm her down as she talked to new people.

And that was how the night continued on. Kennedy introduced her to everyone and the drinks kept coming. About an hour after they arrived, someone turned on music and shut the video games off. The couch was pushed out of the way along with the coffee table and people just started dancing.

Darcy found this hilarious, until Kennedy started to pull her into it. She refused to move at first, but then he handed his beer off to someone else and placed his hands on her hips, making them sway from side to side. After that, she gave in and threw her arms around his neck. She giggled into his shoulder as she tried keeping up with the beat.

“I feel ridiculous!” She yelled next to his ear and then giggled some more.

Kennedy shook his head. “You look great.” He shouted back and held onto her tighter as he noticed her swaying turning into stumbling. He thought maybe it was time to cut off her whiskey, but then he watched in somewhat amazement as she chugged half her glass.

“I need a refill.” She informed him as she licked her lips. Kennedy started to shake his head but she was already dragging him toward the kitchen and he figured one more drink couldn’t hurt, though they never actually made it to the alcohol before Darcy went running from him. “Errrrrrric!” She screamed as she threw herself at a tall lanky boy.

Kennedy chuckled as he followed and found the group consisting of the members of Rocket to the Moon. He grinned as he greeted the guys, but their attention was glued to the overenthusiastic girl.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here! Oh my god. Oo, what do you have to drink?” She curiously peered into his cup by sticking her face into it. Eric’s eyebrows scrunched together as he glanced over at Kennedy.

“What the hell did you do to her, man?” Darcy giggled and clutched his side as she nearly fell. Eric had never, in all the years he’d known her, seen Darcy quite like this.

“I didn’t do anything!” Kennedy quickly raised his hands in defense.

“I’ve had a few cups of whisssss-kayyyyy!” She whispered and then giggled again as she finally noticed the other three boys staring at her. “Heyyyyyyy, who’s this?” She tilted her head to the side.

Eric cleared his throat. “This is my band, Darc. Nick, Andrew, Justin, this is Darcy. John’s cousin.” Eric carefully placed his arm around her as she swayed unsteadily.

“I thought you said she was uptight.” Nick blurted in his confused/awed state.

Darcy’s mouth fell open as she smacked Eric as hard as she could in the chest. “You called me uptight?” Her voice rose in pitch with each word. Then her mouth twisted into an adorable pout that made all five boys practically melt. “You’re a meanie, Eric.” She huffed and then pulled herself from his side. Darcy smirked as she made eye contact with Kennedy. She winked at him as she walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist, cuddling into his side as she laid her head on his shoulder. That took everyone by surprise.

“Are you two …” Justin trailed off as he pointed toward Kennedy and Darcy. Kennedy’s mouth opened with nothing coming out while Darcy giggled again. Eric looked unsure as he eyed the two too.

Before anyone could really respond, another boy approached the group. “Darcy, I’ve been looking all over for you.” John worriedly sighed. He frowned at the closeness between his cousin and his best friend. Then, however, Darcy abruptly pulled away from Kennedy again as she threw herself at John.

“John Ohhhh!” She yelled and wrapped her arms around him tight. He knew immediately that she was drunk. He had only seen her drunk on one other occasion, but it was easy to spot. He glared hard at Kennedy as he put his arms protectively around her.

“How much did you let her drink?” He asked his voice strained with concern. Kennedy furrowed his eyebrows as he shrugged.

“I dunno. Maybe three, four cups of straight whiskey.”

Eric let out a low whistle. “Damn. She’s plastered.”

“She’s having fun!” Darcy exclaimed and the boys gave her a weird look.

“I think it’s time to go home, Darc.” John rubbed her back soothingly and she frowned.

“But Kenny and I were dancing.” She pouted again as she looked over at Kennedy.

“We can dance next time, Darcy.” Kennedy smiled, swallowing the sudden sadness that overwhelmed him for no apparent reason. It wasn’t like he wanted her to stay.

“Fine.” Darcy sighed. “Killjoy.” She muttered to John as she slowly walked toward Kennedy.

It happened quicker than anyone could really process, especially Kennedy. Darcy leaned forward and kissed his lips firmly. She pulled away giggling as Kennedy simply stared at her dumbfounded.

“Definitely time to go.” John shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’ll catch you guys later.” He avoided looking directly at Kennedy as he pushed Darcy toward the door, but it didn’t matter. Kennedy’s eyes were glued to the girl waving and smiling at him.

“That was awkward.” Eric raised his eyebrows and glanced around before taking a swig of his beer.

“Yeah.” Kennedy whispered as he continued to stare at the door entrance. He was completely lost, and he was starting to think he always would be with Darcy.

John had some difficulty getting Darcy into his car. First, she wanted to dance again as soon as she heard the music in the living room. Then she had a real hard time going down the front step. The most aggravating part though was when she refused to sit shotgun without actually saying she didn’t want to sit there.

He finally did get her in the backseat, where she all but passed out with her head against the window. John glanced at her through the rearview mirror every few seconds. He chewed on his bottom lip as he drove. It wasn’t until he was parked in his own driveway that he turned toward the intoxicated and slightly exhausted girl.

“You do know you just kissed Kennedy, right?”

Her nose scrunched up and her eyes practically closed. John shook his head, figuring that was probably the best answer he would get from her tonight. It worried him, as he carried her inside and set her down in bed. He wanted her to be Kennedy, but he had a feeling things weren’t how they should be.