Live As If We Died

"Turn off fucking Ryan Cabrera or whatever his name is, Jules!" Jaime screamed through the other side of the door. I opened the door and smiled at him, but he was pissed at my recent music choices. "Honestly, you and girly love songs? I don't get it. I mean, it's literally nauseating to hear." He shook his head and picked up Dodger who was trying to crawl up his leg.

I ignored everything he was saying. "You like?" I did a 360 turn to show off my outfit. Yes, tonight Mike and I were finally going to have some alone time and he asked me to wear something pretty and dress up. I had no idea what his plans were, but each day I was liking this kid more and more.

"Very sexy, babe." Jaime raised his eyebrows in approval. I ran over to my iPod and finally shut off the playlist that was annoying Jaime so much and he escorted me downstairs. "Be careful with him," Jaime said after I lit up a cigarette in the kitchen. "I'm not saying he's going to hurt you or anything because I've never seen Mike like this, but I just want you to be safe." I didn't know how to respond to him other than look down at my feet and nod in agreement.

"I'll be fine," I finally said and gave him a weak smile.

"And I've never seen you like this since you and asshole started dating years ago," Jaime laughed. I smiled at the thought of Mike since he'd been making me feel better than I have in years. It had been a little over a month since we had met and every second with him has been filled with nothing but perfection and fun. He was everything I was missing from my life in so many ways and I never knew that such a great thing that would come in a tall, scrawny, tatted, drummer package, but I guess it's true that you should never judge a book by its cover.

We heard a knock on the door and Jaime gave me a hug and opened up the door. Mike stood there with a nervous grin. He was actually wearing nice dress clothes - a pair of skinny black jeans, a button-down shirt that was unbuttoned near the top, and a sports coat thrown over it - my jaw dropped. I never thought in a million years that I'd ever seen Michael Fuentes like this, but I guess I was wrong. And damn, he looked good.

Mike walked over to me and greeted me with a hug. "You look hot," he whispered. I kissed his cheek and he took my hand to help me stand up. "Thanks for the lipstick," he laughed.

We headed towards the door before we heard Jaime yell to us. "You have until 1 a.m. kids! Don't get her pregnant, or else I will have to kill you!"

"Yes, father!" I yelled back and rolled my eyes. "So where are we going?" I asked Mike after we had gotten in his car. He looked over at me and bit his lip ring.

"If I were to tell you, it wouldn't be a surprise." He shrugged a little and turned on music. Jimmy Eat World's Futures album came on and I smiled slightly, but he noticed. "Just Tonight" was just ending and when "Kill" came on, Mike looked over and grabbed my hand. We didn't say anything the entire way to the restaurant, but the silence wasn't awkward at all. Once we got there, Mike raced out of the car to open my door for.

"What a gentlemen," I laughed at him. He glared at me and went in for a kiss.

"Hi," he said as he leaned his forehead against mine and smiled.

"Hi," I smiled back. I was blushing. This was not like Mike at all, but I could get used to it.

+++

The night went by slowly. Mike had taken me to a rather fancy Italian restaurant because he remembered me saying that Italian was my favorite. The prices were so outrageously expensive that I almost wanted to leave. I didn't feel comfortable in such a place, especially because people were glaring at Mike and I for our tattoos and piercings. Mike shrugged them off and laughed about them behind their backs. He made me feel more comfortable being there since he didn't have any shits to give.

We talked about everything that came to mind from my job, to touring, to writing, to our childhood and our favorite things. We had had conversations like this plenty of times, but not in such detail. Finally, we returned to the car and he started heading towards the beach. I laughed at his decision, mainly because I had drank a little too much wine back at the restaurant.

"Take your shoes off and I'll carry you," Mike said when I got out of the car. I did what I was told and threw my shoes back in and he did the same. In one swoop, he picked me up bridal-style and started running towards the shoreline. He set me down and sat down in the sand. I sat in between his legs and rested my back against his chest. The waves came in slightly over our toes and he smiled broadly at me. "So," he finally said.

"So?" I copied him. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and I placed my hands over his.

"Be my girlfriend, Juliet." He said it with no ease, but his body was tensed up and I could sense he was nervous.

"What?" I giggled at him.

"You heard me," he laughed nervously, "don't be a jackass." We sat in silence for a little while. I knew what my answer was, but I just wanted to watch him squirm. "C'mon, answer me." He was getting impatient, so I turned around finally and fell on top of him, sending us both to the ground. I kissed him and smiled.

"You sure you want to get into this mess?" I asked him with raised eyebrows.

"I'm positive," he smiled and kissed me again.

"Okay," I said in a small voice. I was happier than words could explain and my face was a good example of just how happy I actually was.

"Is that a yes?" He winked.

"Yes, it's a yes." I rolled my eyes. We were both smiling up to our ears over the entire situation. You would've thought we were in middle-school by the way we were acting. We looked like two lovesick puppies who were in major like with each other. The rest of the night was spent on the beach walking around, chain-smoking, making out, and watching the sunrise together. He even gave me his jacket when I got chilly. It was a perfect scene to end a perfect night.

We returned to the house to an anxious Jaime, Tony, and Vic watching movies. I didn't know why they were there, but they looked happy as hell for us the second we walked into the room. They obviously knew what was going to happen before we even went out tonight.