The Beating of Our Hearts
The Beating of Our Hearts - 22
*Regular P.O.V.*
The next morning I instantly promised myself no more drinking, ever. The sun blinded me before I’d even opened my eyes, so I turned away from the window and buried my face into something warm and soft...and moving. My eyes shot open, scared of what might be lurking in my bed, only to see a very unexpected, yet very hot sight. A shirtless sleeping Jared Leto. Then a jarring thought occurred to me; I looked down at myself to see if I was also half naked. Sighing with relief, I saw I still had clothes on, thank goodness for that.
After the shock and surprise of finding Jared next to me in my bed, my hangover decided to hit me full force. Feeling abruptly woozy, I lay back down groaning, covering my face with my arm. What on earth happened last night? I remember making the food, eating it, then Jared got out a bottle of...uh oh. He bought Southern Comfort, my weakness. When it came to that drink, I would keep going until I passed out, which must have been what happened last night.
While I was lying there, being as still and quiet as I could for my protesting brain, an arm slid its way across my waist, pulling me gently back next to Jared’s body. I blushed, thankful that Jared wasn’t awake to see it, and turned to snuggle into him. Hey, might as well make the most of the situation. Deciding that a few more hours sleep was definitely on the cards, a let my weary brain send me back into oblivion.
-4 hours later-
The opening notes of Night Of The Hunter jarred me back into the land of the living. I looked around desperately for the source of the noise before locating it. It was my phone, and it had an incoming call from Shannon.
“Morning.” I croaked in greeting.
“Did I wake you?” He laughed.
“Maybe a little.”
“Sorry. Hey listen, is my brother there? I can’t find him and he’s not picking up his phone.”
I turned over in my bed to see if Jared was still asleep, but the other side was empty.
“Um, let me check.” I told the elder Leto brother.
I climbed out of the comfort of my mattress and walked through my apartment. I could hear faint sizzling noises coming from the kitchen, accompanied by a succulent aroma. I turned the corner and saw Jared, still topless, working on a frying pan over the stove.
“Yeah he’s here. And cooking.” I said into the phone.
“OK, just as long as I know he’s alive. I’ll talk to you later.” Shannon said, and hung up.
My voice attracted the attention of the man standing over the cooker.
“Good morning.” He said brightly, smiling over at me.
“How can you be so chipper? I seem to remember you drinking a fair amount last night too.” I said, walking over to a cabinet and taking out some painkillers, popping them in my mouth.
“Well I didn’t drink as much as you, and I can hold my alcohol better.” He smirked.
“Yeah, yeah. Southern Comfort is my downfall.” I admitted, slouching across the table.
“Scrambled eggs on toast?” Jared offered, serving up the exquisitely cooked fluffy golden eggs on just browned toast.
“Yum.” I tucked into breakfast, Jared sitting opposite me with nothing except a mug of coffee. He watched me eat with a small smile playing across his face.
“You not having any?” I asked nervously, I felt on display.
“I already had some.” He told me.
“Well, thank you for making me some too. It was very sweet.” I said, leaning across the table to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“So what’s the plan for today?” Jared asked me.
“I’m gunna take a shower, grab some junk food, DVD’s and my laptop and go back to bed for the rest of the day. And yourself?”
“Well, I know we’ve got some press stuff to do this afternoon. Then Tomo is coming round so we can discuss some of the guitar parts for a new song we’ve been working on.”
“Sounds good.”
“OK, well I better get going.” Jared stood up, darting into the bedroom to grab his shirt and phone before returning to the kitchen.
“Thank you for a lovely meal and amusing after-dinner entertainment.” Jared thanked me, stooping down to kiss my forehead.
“Hang on. That reminds me. Do you remember what happened last night after we started drinking, cause I’m drawing a complete blank.” I asked him.
He just smiled cheekily.
“I gotta go.” He avoided answering my question, sliding his shoes on and stepping quickly out the door.
Men, psh.
I kept to my plan and by 5pm I was feeling much less hung over, but stayed in bed cause I was just plain lazy. Halfway through watching Herbie Fully Loaded, I realised that it was the anniversary of my parent’s car crash in a week. Five years since they got killed on that highway. I closed my laptop, stopping the movie. I was finding it hard to breathe.
I had been having such a good time with Shannon, Tomo and Jared that I had almost forgotten about those painful memories. I leapt out of bed and walked quickly into the living room to get my laptop. I was halfway there before I realised it was resting on my bed. Racing back, I opened a new web page and brought up the LAX site. I pulled out my credit card and began processing the numbers onto the screen, purchasing a return flight back home. I wouldn’t forget about them.
After clicking the confirmation button, my flight details appeared again on the screen. I was leaving next Tuesday morning, getting there in the evening. I could spend Wednesday at the cemetery, doing what I had done every year on that day since they passed: sitting in front of their tombstones and talking to them. Remembering them. My flight back to LA was on Thursday morning.
I couldn’t tell the guys were I was going, or why. I didn’t want their pity or sympathy. This was something I had to go through alone.
The next morning I instantly promised myself no more drinking, ever. The sun blinded me before I’d even opened my eyes, so I turned away from the window and buried my face into something warm and soft...and moving. My eyes shot open, scared of what might be lurking in my bed, only to see a very unexpected, yet very hot sight. A shirtless sleeping Jared Leto. Then a jarring thought occurred to me; I looked down at myself to see if I was also half naked. Sighing with relief, I saw I still had clothes on, thank goodness for that.
After the shock and surprise of finding Jared next to me in my bed, my hangover decided to hit me full force. Feeling abruptly woozy, I lay back down groaning, covering my face with my arm. What on earth happened last night? I remember making the food, eating it, then Jared got out a bottle of...uh oh. He bought Southern Comfort, my weakness. When it came to that drink, I would keep going until I passed out, which must have been what happened last night.
While I was lying there, being as still and quiet as I could for my protesting brain, an arm slid its way across my waist, pulling me gently back next to Jared’s body. I blushed, thankful that Jared wasn’t awake to see it, and turned to snuggle into him. Hey, might as well make the most of the situation. Deciding that a few more hours sleep was definitely on the cards, a let my weary brain send me back into oblivion.
-4 hours later-
The opening notes of Night Of The Hunter jarred me back into the land of the living. I looked around desperately for the source of the noise before locating it. It was my phone, and it had an incoming call from Shannon.
“Morning.” I croaked in greeting.
“Did I wake you?” He laughed.
“Maybe a little.”
“Sorry. Hey listen, is my brother there? I can’t find him and he’s not picking up his phone.”
I turned over in my bed to see if Jared was still asleep, but the other side was empty.
“Um, let me check.” I told the elder Leto brother.
I climbed out of the comfort of my mattress and walked through my apartment. I could hear faint sizzling noises coming from the kitchen, accompanied by a succulent aroma. I turned the corner and saw Jared, still topless, working on a frying pan over the stove.
“Yeah he’s here. And cooking.” I said into the phone.
“OK, just as long as I know he’s alive. I’ll talk to you later.” Shannon said, and hung up.
My voice attracted the attention of the man standing over the cooker.
“Good morning.” He said brightly, smiling over at me.
“How can you be so chipper? I seem to remember you drinking a fair amount last night too.” I said, walking over to a cabinet and taking out some painkillers, popping them in my mouth.
“Well I didn’t drink as much as you, and I can hold my alcohol better.” He smirked.
“Yeah, yeah. Southern Comfort is my downfall.” I admitted, slouching across the table.
“Scrambled eggs on toast?” Jared offered, serving up the exquisitely cooked fluffy golden eggs on just browned toast.
“Yum.” I tucked into breakfast, Jared sitting opposite me with nothing except a mug of coffee. He watched me eat with a small smile playing across his face.
“You not having any?” I asked nervously, I felt on display.
“I already had some.” He told me.
“Well, thank you for making me some too. It was very sweet.” I said, leaning across the table to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“So what’s the plan for today?” Jared asked me.
“I’m gunna take a shower, grab some junk food, DVD’s and my laptop and go back to bed for the rest of the day. And yourself?”
“Well, I know we’ve got some press stuff to do this afternoon. Then Tomo is coming round so we can discuss some of the guitar parts for a new song we’ve been working on.”
“Sounds good.”
“OK, well I better get going.” Jared stood up, darting into the bedroom to grab his shirt and phone before returning to the kitchen.
“Thank you for a lovely meal and amusing after-dinner entertainment.” Jared thanked me, stooping down to kiss my forehead.
“Hang on. That reminds me. Do you remember what happened last night after we started drinking, cause I’m drawing a complete blank.” I asked him.
He just smiled cheekily.
“I gotta go.” He avoided answering my question, sliding his shoes on and stepping quickly out the door.
Men, psh.
I kept to my plan and by 5pm I was feeling much less hung over, but stayed in bed cause I was just plain lazy. Halfway through watching Herbie Fully Loaded, I realised that it was the anniversary of my parent’s car crash in a week. Five years since they got killed on that highway. I closed my laptop, stopping the movie. I was finding it hard to breathe.
I had been having such a good time with Shannon, Tomo and Jared that I had almost forgotten about those painful memories. I leapt out of bed and walked quickly into the living room to get my laptop. I was halfway there before I realised it was resting on my bed. Racing back, I opened a new web page and brought up the LAX site. I pulled out my credit card and began processing the numbers onto the screen, purchasing a return flight back home. I wouldn’t forget about them.
After clicking the confirmation button, my flight details appeared again on the screen. I was leaving next Tuesday morning, getting there in the evening. I could spend Wednesday at the cemetery, doing what I had done every year on that day since they passed: sitting in front of their tombstones and talking to them. Remembering them. My flight back to LA was on Thursday morning.
I couldn’t tell the guys were I was going, or why. I didn’t want their pity or sympathy. This was something I had to go through alone.