Heart Means Everything

Two weeks later, Jeremy woke up at 3:30 in the afternoon. He had completely overslept. He jumped out of bed and threw on a tee, jeans, his beanie, and his Vans. He grabbed a jacked off the ground and threw that on, too.

As he was running downstairs, he realized his mom was napping on the recliner, so he slowed to a tip toe.

"God, why can't she be a good mom and know when to wake me up?" Jeremy muttered to himself as he walked out the door.

Jeremy got in his car and backed out of the driveway and sped off to Alix's house.

"Hey, you," Alix greeted Jeremy once he'd parked his car and gotten out.

"Hello," Jeremy replied cheekily.

"Mind if we go for a walk?"

"Of course not."

They started off down the sidewalk, headed towards uptown Ocala. They didn't hold hands, but instead walked closely, Jeremy occasionally bumping into Alix playfully. Jeremy kept his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket; Alix kept the sleeves of Jeremy's jacket wrapped around her hands. It was a rather cold day, but it was now December.

"So, any reason why you wanted to walk?" Jeremy asked.

"I wanted to interogate you. Say the wrong thing and I'll pull you into an alley and murder you," Alix said in the most serious voice she could pull off.

"Oh, you would do such a thing?" Jeremy teased, then laughed.

"No.. My dad was home and not in a great mood."

Jeremy still hadn't met her dad, and he knew she was going to avoid it for as long as she could. He didn't say anything about it, though.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Something about his credit card. He couldn't use it, and the company was charging him. That's all I got out of his mumbling. Plus I think he's getting sick, the flu maybe? Poor guy."

"Aw, well hopefully things work out for him."

"Yeah... So your birthday's coming up, right?"

"Yep, three days."

"Oh, shit. I didn't realize it was that close... Anything in particular that you want?"

"Nope, I don't want anything," Jeremy said stubbornly.

Alix sighed. "You know it neer works that way. You're getting stuff whether you like it or not. You'll be eighteen, that's a big deal."

"Nah, it just means I have to grow up. It's not like I'll actually get anything I'd be newly allowed to get. Well, maybe except porn. I might need that." Jeremy laughed.

Alix shoved him playfully. "Eww, gross! You really wanna see a bunch of naked whores haing sex?"

"Um, duh." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Actually, probably not. It somehow reminds me of Josh."

Alix burst into laughter. "Well there's a thought."

She stopped in front of the local skate shop and looked over the things in the window.. She really liked a blue jacket on one of the mannequins, and a black beanie on the other. She kept the two items in mind and walked on. Jeremy was confused, but followed behind her.

"What exactly are we doing?" Jeremy asked, sounding more confused than he looked.

"I don't know," Alix lied. She was trying to find something she could get for Jeremy's birthday, but Ocala didn't exactly...offer much. Alix missed that about Fort Lauterdale, the way that she could just walk to the mall whenever she wanted. Ocala reminded her of Indiana, there wasn't much to do in either place.

"Well, do you wanna go in the music store?" Jeremy suggested.

"Sure." Alix thought that maybe he could give her some options.

When they arrived, Jeremy went straight to the new releases and picked up an album. Once Alix got closer, she saw that it was a 30 Seconds To Mars album. Jeremy scanned the album under a listening station and listened as it played a few previews.

"Oh, this sounds so good!" Jeremy said excitedly. He looked like a kid in a candy shop.

Jeremy put the album back on the rack and picked up the new Fall Out Boy album.

"Hmm... Looks like it could be good," Jeremy thought aloud.

"Fall Out Boy is really good. I think you'd like them," Alix said shyly.

"I'll take your word for it," Jeremy said with a wink.

Alix felt her face heat up, so she went off to look at other cds.

Not too long after she had walked away, Jeremy walked back to her, freaking out and nearly shouting, pulling her along to see his findings.

"They have all of the New Found Glory albums! But I didn't bring any money. Dammit!!"

Alix put a finger to Jeremy's lips. "Shh. Maybe Santa will buy them for you."

A disappointed look crossed his face. "Let's go so I don't get upset," he joked.

They left and walked around town window shopping. By the time they had gotten back to Alix's house, it was nearly eight.

Jeremy noticed someone in a window in Alix's living room as they approached the houese. He felt his heartbeat speed up and a nervous feeling washed over him.

"W-who's that?" Jeremy asked, nodding his head in the direction of the window."

"Oh, it's just my brother." Alix looked Jeremy over. "Do you wanna calm down a bit?"

"I'm fine, what are you talking about?"

Alix rolled her eyes and went up the walkway to her porch.

"Hey David," she greeted her brother.

"Hey," he said casually. "Who's this?"

"I'm Jeremy," Jeremy said with a smile. "I'm a friend of Alix's."

"Well it's nice to meet you." David's smile was genuine and kind. "Dad needs to talk to you. Jeremy, do you want to come in?"

"No, thanks though. I've got to get going."

Alix gave Jeremy a hug and he drove home in silence.