Deep End
Thirteen
“You look beautiful.”
“I look like a shrivelled blueberry.”
Her statement rings so true that Kris can’t help but laugh as he watches her reflection in the mirror outside the change room. Skylar is shifting on the balls of her feet, wearing a strapless blue dress with a ridiculous amount of layered ruffles that do in fact make her look rather like a blueberry.
“I hate dress shopping.” She says, hands on her hips.
“You will find something.” Kris assures her. “Try on that red one, it was nice.” Skylar watches him in the mirror, slouching back against the wall, hands in his pockets, and smiles.
“Thank you again for coming with me. And thank you for pretending I look good in this.” She says, “I know you hate this as much as I do.”
“It’s not so bad.” He says, which is partly true. The dress shopping part is ridiculously boring, but he couldn’t very well let her go all by herself. Shopping with Skylar isn’t as completely unbearable as he’d been expecting though. She’d pulled a few dresses off the rack and tried them on just because she knew they’d make him laugh and she’s a much quicker shopper than some other girls he’s known.
“It’ll be over soon.” She promises as she walks back behind the changing room curtain. “We’re almost through every dress in this store. One of them has to look not completely hideous. It’s got to be like some kind of law or something.”
When she walks out in the next dress, the red one Kris had mentioned earlier, Kris smiles wide. It’s a one shouldered, cherry red number with an asymmetrical hem line that hits her mid-thigh at the highest point and just above the knee at its lowest. He stands up and walks over, draping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her bare shoulder.
“This one.” He says and she nods, brushing her fingertips over his knuckles.
“Alright.” She says firmly after a minute, brushing his hands away, “Done. Let’s get out of here.” She shudders dramatically and he laughs.
---
“Okay, tonight?” Skylar says later that evening, slipping her hand into Kris’ as they enter the dining room for the rehearsal dinner, “Tonight, you’re glue.” He can feel her nervous energy as she looks around at all the tables, eyeing up all the people she doesn’t know. He squeezes her hand reassuringly.
“It won’t be like the other night.” He promises, “Tonight I won’t let you get stolen away.” Kris makes good on his word (which isn’t exactly hard for him, he wouldn’t mind being glued to Skylar for a very long time indeed) and doesn’t leave Skylar’s side, even after the dinner is over and the bar opens and everyone starts to mingle.
He pulls a chair up right beside her and nurses a drink while they scan the crowd and try to flip Jordan almonds over the centerpiece and into an empty glass on the other side of the table. Skylar’s up by three when Jordan saunters over to the table with a drink in each hand.
“Hey Staalsy.” Kris says, biting his lip in concentration and promptly bouncing an almond right onto the tray of a passing waiter. He blushes an apology and turns back to Jordan. “Double fisting?”
“Living in the moment. Buying drinks for a pretty lady.” He grins down at Skylar and nudges her shoulder. “Excellent advice.”
“I am kind of a genius.” She says, flipping an almond over the center piece to land neatly in the center of the empty glass. She raises both hands in victory as Jordan goes back to his new conquest and Sid flops down into the empty chair next to Kris. Skylar rations out some almonds from her pile and some from Kris’ and slides them in front of Sid.
“Want to play?” she asks, just as he grabs four of them and shoves them into his mouth. “Or you could do that.”
“What’s up Captain?” Kris asks, sinking an almond and fist pumping in victory.
“I’m still up by three.” Skylar reminds him.
“When do you think we can get out of here without looking like douches?” Sid asks.
“Not having fun?” Skylar asks, poking him in the arm and pointing at the empty glass. Sid picks up an almond and sinks it in on his first try, shrugging.
“Not my scene.” He says, but no one misses the way his eyes trail after a tall blonde in a bright pink dress across the dance floor. Kris shakes his head, shoving his Captain’s shoulder.
“Talk to her.”
“No way.” Sid shakes his head, “I can’t handle a girlfriend right now.” He raises a brow when Skylar laughs. “What?”
“You don’t have to make her your girlfriend just because you talk to her.” Skylar says, “You should live in the moment Sid, ask her to dance. It doesn’t have to even be more than that if you don’t want it to be.
“I just...I have to be careful.” He says.
“I get that. But come on, we’re not in the 1920’s anymore. Girls can show their ankles in public now! You can dance with her without asking for her hand in marriage.” Skylar pats his arm consolingly while Kris covers his laugh with a cough. Sid glares at them both.
“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll go talk to her.” He stands up and turns to head away, then turns back, picks up three almonds and sinks all three of them into the glass, one after the other, with a hefty smirk. “Four in a row.”
“Show off.” Skylar hisses in a laugh, bouncing an almond off the back of Sid’s head as he walks away. They watch him in silence until he has the blonde wrapped in his arms on the dance floor, then turn away because he catches them staring.
“Okay, you’ve found everyone else a pretty girl to dance with. My turn now.” Kris says, turning to Skylar and reaching for her hand. She slips her fingers between his and gives him an appraising look, then turns her eyes to the bar.
“Hmm, okay, how about that girl over there? The one in the green? She looks like she’d be your type.” She quips as he pulls her to her feet and gives her a mock frown.
“Ha ha.” He pulls her out onto the dance floor, sliding his arms low around her waist, “You know I meant you.”
“Yeah.” She grins as she slides her arms around his neck and presses herself flush against him, “I kinda did.”
Their dance gets cut short however when Lindsay goes running by a moment later looking a peculiar shade of green, one hand slapped over her mouth. Tyler is following on her heels, teetering just slightly.
“You okay?” Kris asks.
“I think she’s gonna hurl.” TK slurs, “I should go-” He starts to topple and Kris has to fling Skylar out of the way to catch him before he hits the floor.
“I’ll go find Lindsay.” Skylar offers and Kris nods gratefully, dragging a weak-kneed TK towards the elevators to settle him in his room.
---
“What’s happening?” Skylar asks, rounding the corner after finding Lindsay in the women’s room and settling her in her room next to TK, who has already passed out, and coming upon Sid looking rather nervous, trying to explain something to Max, Jordan and Kris.
“The hot blonde in the bubblegum dress? Sid totally scored.” Max whispers not so quietly, which earns him a stern glare. He raises his hands in surrender.
“Why the look of confusion?” she asks, “I mean, you know where you’re supposed to put it, right?” His next look puts her in the dog house right next to Max.
“I do not have a problem sealing the deal.” He says firmly, “I just...” he trails off, spares a minute glance over his shoulder. Skylar catches it.
“Oh, I see.” She nods, holds out her palm. “Gimme a twenty, I’ll get them.” She says with a shrug, like it’s no big deal. Jordan’s eyes bug out his head like it’s his first sex-ed class when he catches on.
“Condoms?” he hisses conspiratorially. Sid flushes.
“Dude, you can’t buy your own battle helmets, but you think you can seal the deal?” Max laughs and Skylar swats his arm.
“Right, because the crown royal of Canada can just walk into a hotel gift shop and hand the pimple-y faced cashier a box of condoms.” She says in defence. Sid hesitates for only a moment before pulling some cash out of his wallet and proffering it to her.
“So....Magnums?” she rolls her eyes over his body appreciatively and in jest, which gets her a poke from Kris. “Or, you look like a guy who would take care of a lady...ribbed, for her pleasure?” he gives her a shove toward the gift shop.
“Stop giving them more ammo and just go, please?”
“Go hang out around the corner.” Skylar tells them, “If I buy condoms from the pimple-y faced cashier, he’s going to be very interested to see where I go when I leave and if he sees me walk out here and hand them to you, it defeats the entire purpose of this stealth operation. So if you want to get laid tonight, go hide.” She motions them away with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Five minutes later she rounds the corner, bag in hand, looking triumphant and a little queasy. She hands Sid the bag and he frowns, pulling it open. He knew it felt heavy, as he pulls out a tub of Häagan Daz Rocky Road ice cream. He raises a brow and holds it out to her.
“Oh, that’s mine.” She says, and reaches for it, but he pulls it back. “Hey.” She says sternly, “I walked in there and bought condoms from the pimple-y faced kid. The pimple-y faced kid who looked a little too excited to see me and my condoms. So if that kid and his left hand are going to go home and get his jollies imagining what me and those condoms are up to tonight, you can buy me ice cream.” Sid giggles his trademark kindergarten laugh and willingly offers up the ice cream.
“Thank you.” She says triumphantly. “Now go get some!”
Blushing like a school girl, Sid scurries off to the elevators. In a fit of jealousy, Max declares that he’s calling a cab to take him out to find a lady looking for some loving. Jordan agrees to go along in case things get out of hand, and because the girl he’d met after the dinner was apparently out on the town and he was determined to find her. Once again, Kris and Skylar are left alone. She shakes the ice cream carton invitingly. Kris throws an arm around her shoulders and she tucks herself comfortably into his side. Moments later they’re decked out in sweats and tucked comfortably into bed together scanning through the pay-per-view movie options. Kris is surprised when Skylar so easily agrees to watch The Mechanic.
“I didn’t think you’d be into action movies.”
“I’m into Jason Statham.” She returns and he can’t see her face from where she’s resting on his chest, but he can feel her smirk. He pokes her in the ribs and when she flinches hard, he knows he’s found her weakness. He tickles her side and she squeals and flails, slapping at him.
“You’re sexy too! You’re sexy too!” she cries, trying to roll herself up in the sheets to protect herself.
“Sexier?”
“The sexiest!” she promises, jerking wildly. She flops limply onto the bed when he pulls back, breathing hard.
“You’re such a cheater.” She sticks out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout and he leans down to kiss it away. When he pulls back, she’s grinning. “Don’t think this means I’m not going to find your weakness. I will. And when I do, oh you better watch it.” She shakes her finger threateningly.
“Can’t wait.” He says as he starts the movie and she rolls closer into his side.
“I look like a shrivelled blueberry.”
Her statement rings so true that Kris can’t help but laugh as he watches her reflection in the mirror outside the change room. Skylar is shifting on the balls of her feet, wearing a strapless blue dress with a ridiculous amount of layered ruffles that do in fact make her look rather like a blueberry.
“I hate dress shopping.” She says, hands on her hips.
“You will find something.” Kris assures her. “Try on that red one, it was nice.” Skylar watches him in the mirror, slouching back against the wall, hands in his pockets, and smiles.
“Thank you again for coming with me. And thank you for pretending I look good in this.” She says, “I know you hate this as much as I do.”
“It’s not so bad.” He says, which is partly true. The dress shopping part is ridiculously boring, but he couldn’t very well let her go all by herself. Shopping with Skylar isn’t as completely unbearable as he’d been expecting though. She’d pulled a few dresses off the rack and tried them on just because she knew they’d make him laugh and she’s a much quicker shopper than some other girls he’s known.
“It’ll be over soon.” She promises as she walks back behind the changing room curtain. “We’re almost through every dress in this store. One of them has to look not completely hideous. It’s got to be like some kind of law or something.”
When she walks out in the next dress, the red one Kris had mentioned earlier, Kris smiles wide. It’s a one shouldered, cherry red number with an asymmetrical hem line that hits her mid-thigh at the highest point and just above the knee at its lowest. He stands up and walks over, draping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her bare shoulder.
“This one.” He says and she nods, brushing her fingertips over his knuckles.
“Alright.” She says firmly after a minute, brushing his hands away, “Done. Let’s get out of here.” She shudders dramatically and he laughs.
---
“Okay, tonight?” Skylar says later that evening, slipping her hand into Kris’ as they enter the dining room for the rehearsal dinner, “Tonight, you’re glue.” He can feel her nervous energy as she looks around at all the tables, eyeing up all the people she doesn’t know. He squeezes her hand reassuringly.
“It won’t be like the other night.” He promises, “Tonight I won’t let you get stolen away.” Kris makes good on his word (which isn’t exactly hard for him, he wouldn’t mind being glued to Skylar for a very long time indeed) and doesn’t leave Skylar’s side, even after the dinner is over and the bar opens and everyone starts to mingle.
He pulls a chair up right beside her and nurses a drink while they scan the crowd and try to flip Jordan almonds over the centerpiece and into an empty glass on the other side of the table. Skylar’s up by three when Jordan saunters over to the table with a drink in each hand.
“Hey Staalsy.” Kris says, biting his lip in concentration and promptly bouncing an almond right onto the tray of a passing waiter. He blushes an apology and turns back to Jordan. “Double fisting?”
“Living in the moment. Buying drinks for a pretty lady.” He grins down at Skylar and nudges her shoulder. “Excellent advice.”
“I am kind of a genius.” She says, flipping an almond over the center piece to land neatly in the center of the empty glass. She raises both hands in victory as Jordan goes back to his new conquest and Sid flops down into the empty chair next to Kris. Skylar rations out some almonds from her pile and some from Kris’ and slides them in front of Sid.
“Want to play?” she asks, just as he grabs four of them and shoves them into his mouth. “Or you could do that.”
“What’s up Captain?” Kris asks, sinking an almond and fist pumping in victory.
“I’m still up by three.” Skylar reminds him.
“When do you think we can get out of here without looking like douches?” Sid asks.
“Not having fun?” Skylar asks, poking him in the arm and pointing at the empty glass. Sid picks up an almond and sinks it in on his first try, shrugging.
“Not my scene.” He says, but no one misses the way his eyes trail after a tall blonde in a bright pink dress across the dance floor. Kris shakes his head, shoving his Captain’s shoulder.
“Talk to her.”
“No way.” Sid shakes his head, “I can’t handle a girlfriend right now.” He raises a brow when Skylar laughs. “What?”
“You don’t have to make her your girlfriend just because you talk to her.” Skylar says, “You should live in the moment Sid, ask her to dance. It doesn’t have to even be more than that if you don’t want it to be.
“I just...I have to be careful.” He says.
“I get that. But come on, we’re not in the 1920’s anymore. Girls can show their ankles in public now! You can dance with her without asking for her hand in marriage.” Skylar pats his arm consolingly while Kris covers his laugh with a cough. Sid glares at them both.
“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll go talk to her.” He stands up and turns to head away, then turns back, picks up three almonds and sinks all three of them into the glass, one after the other, with a hefty smirk. “Four in a row.”
“Show off.” Skylar hisses in a laugh, bouncing an almond off the back of Sid’s head as he walks away. They watch him in silence until he has the blonde wrapped in his arms on the dance floor, then turn away because he catches them staring.
“Okay, you’ve found everyone else a pretty girl to dance with. My turn now.” Kris says, turning to Skylar and reaching for her hand. She slips her fingers between his and gives him an appraising look, then turns her eyes to the bar.
“Hmm, okay, how about that girl over there? The one in the green? She looks like she’d be your type.” She quips as he pulls her to her feet and gives her a mock frown.
“Ha ha.” He pulls her out onto the dance floor, sliding his arms low around her waist, “You know I meant you.”
“Yeah.” She grins as she slides her arms around his neck and presses herself flush against him, “I kinda did.”
Their dance gets cut short however when Lindsay goes running by a moment later looking a peculiar shade of green, one hand slapped over her mouth. Tyler is following on her heels, teetering just slightly.
“You okay?” Kris asks.
“I think she’s gonna hurl.” TK slurs, “I should go-” He starts to topple and Kris has to fling Skylar out of the way to catch him before he hits the floor.
“I’ll go find Lindsay.” Skylar offers and Kris nods gratefully, dragging a weak-kneed TK towards the elevators to settle him in his room.
---
“What’s happening?” Skylar asks, rounding the corner after finding Lindsay in the women’s room and settling her in her room next to TK, who has already passed out, and coming upon Sid looking rather nervous, trying to explain something to Max, Jordan and Kris.
“The hot blonde in the bubblegum dress? Sid totally scored.” Max whispers not so quietly, which earns him a stern glare. He raises his hands in surrender.
“Why the look of confusion?” she asks, “I mean, you know where you’re supposed to put it, right?” His next look puts her in the dog house right next to Max.
“I do not have a problem sealing the deal.” He says firmly, “I just...” he trails off, spares a minute glance over his shoulder. Skylar catches it.
“Oh, I see.” She nods, holds out her palm. “Gimme a twenty, I’ll get them.” She says with a shrug, like it’s no big deal. Jordan’s eyes bug out his head like it’s his first sex-ed class when he catches on.
“Condoms?” he hisses conspiratorially. Sid flushes.
“Dude, you can’t buy your own battle helmets, but you think you can seal the deal?” Max laughs and Skylar swats his arm.
“Right, because the crown royal of Canada can just walk into a hotel gift shop and hand the pimple-y faced cashier a box of condoms.” She says in defence. Sid hesitates for only a moment before pulling some cash out of his wallet and proffering it to her.
“So....Magnums?” she rolls her eyes over his body appreciatively and in jest, which gets her a poke from Kris. “Or, you look like a guy who would take care of a lady...ribbed, for her pleasure?” he gives her a shove toward the gift shop.
“Stop giving them more ammo and just go, please?”
“Go hang out around the corner.” Skylar tells them, “If I buy condoms from the pimple-y faced cashier, he’s going to be very interested to see where I go when I leave and if he sees me walk out here and hand them to you, it defeats the entire purpose of this stealth operation. So if you want to get laid tonight, go hide.” She motions them away with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Five minutes later she rounds the corner, bag in hand, looking triumphant and a little queasy. She hands Sid the bag and he frowns, pulling it open. He knew it felt heavy, as he pulls out a tub of Häagan Daz Rocky Road ice cream. He raises a brow and holds it out to her.
“Oh, that’s mine.” She says, and reaches for it, but he pulls it back. “Hey.” She says sternly, “I walked in there and bought condoms from the pimple-y faced kid. The pimple-y faced kid who looked a little too excited to see me and my condoms. So if that kid and his left hand are going to go home and get his jollies imagining what me and those condoms are up to tonight, you can buy me ice cream.” Sid giggles his trademark kindergarten laugh and willingly offers up the ice cream.
“Thank you.” She says triumphantly. “Now go get some!”
Blushing like a school girl, Sid scurries off to the elevators. In a fit of jealousy, Max declares that he’s calling a cab to take him out to find a lady looking for some loving. Jordan agrees to go along in case things get out of hand, and because the girl he’d met after the dinner was apparently out on the town and he was determined to find her. Once again, Kris and Skylar are left alone. She shakes the ice cream carton invitingly. Kris throws an arm around her shoulders and she tucks herself comfortably into his side. Moments later they’re decked out in sweats and tucked comfortably into bed together scanning through the pay-per-view movie options. Kris is surprised when Skylar so easily agrees to watch The Mechanic.
“I didn’t think you’d be into action movies.”
“I’m into Jason Statham.” She returns and he can’t see her face from where she’s resting on his chest, but he can feel her smirk. He pokes her in the ribs and when she flinches hard, he knows he’s found her weakness. He tickles her side and she squeals and flails, slapping at him.
“You’re sexy too! You’re sexy too!” she cries, trying to roll herself up in the sheets to protect herself.
“Sexier?”
“The sexiest!” she promises, jerking wildly. She flops limply onto the bed when he pulls back, breathing hard.
“You’re such a cheater.” She sticks out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout and he leans down to kiss it away. When he pulls back, she’s grinning. “Don’t think this means I’m not going to find your weakness. I will. And when I do, oh you better watch it.” She shakes her finger threateningly.
“Can’t wait.” He says as he starts the movie and she rolls closer into his side.