Pinky Promises

"I don't think I've ever seen Charlie run that fast in my entire life." Matt was saying as we piled out of the car when we returned from our trip some hours later. The sun was going down in the sky and I hadn't realized how long we had been gone.

"Hey! What did you expect me to do after you yelled 'there's a bear'!" He asked with a grumpy expression. "Just sit around and let the thing come up to me and ask for a pot of honey? Fuck that."

"I gotta side with Charlie on this one guys, that was a rotten thing to do to someone." I said as I shut the door to Matt's vehicle and walked up on the porch with them.

"Yeah, totally not cool." Dillon said swigging the last of his beer. He then tossed it to the bottle return cooler.

"You were in on it too, you giant jackass." Charlie said waving his hands around. "You were the first one to take off like there was something there."

Dillon cracked up and shook his head. "I'll never forget the look on your face, man. It was fuckin' priceless."

I couldn't hold in my laughter either as I recalled his sunglasses flying off from his face.

"What are YOU laughing at? I thought you were on my side, ass wipe." he said.

"Oh come on. You have to admit if it happened to one of us you would have laughed. Shit, you would have done it first if you woulda thought of it."

"Alright, alright. It was mean and rude and we shouldn't have done it, but it's over now and Charlie is already plotting revenge in
his head so we can move on." Matt said leaning against the railing.

"Yeah, and what I've got in mind is gonna be fuckin' excellent. Layla, since you were kind enough to bitch these fuckers out for me, you won't fall subject to my creativity. In fact, I'll be nice and ask you to join me."

"You're asking me to go to the dark side?" I asked with my eyebrows slightly raised.

"Yes."

"Do you have cookies like they promise?"

"No... I just have the ability to make a good time happen. You can either be on the shit end of it, or my end."

I sighed. "Yeah well, sometimes I wonder if there's a difference."

He waved his hand at me. "Well I for one am tired. I need to drink me some more beers then go home and pass out until probably noon time tomorrow. You guys got anything going on?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

Dillon yawned. "Nah, nothing."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, work until five. They got me back on my regular schedule now. After that nothing though."

"Alright, well what's Jimmy doing?" Charlie looked at me.

"I don't know, how should I know?"

"You are his girlfriend aren't you?" He asked.

"No..."

"What? All this making out and making Matt go all 'best friend' on you and shit and you're not even his girlfriend? The hell?"

"Calm yourself." I said to him. "It's not a big deal. We're gonna talk about it and figure some stuff out ... then we'll see."

"If he doesn't ask you out, I'm going to." Dillon said. "Because someone needs to wife your ass. You drive us around drunk, and participate in all of our bullshit. Then you make food and you do beer runs...Seriously. You and me baby." He winked at me and I grinned.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "I love you but I don't think I could marry you."

"Oh, ouch. Burn." Charlie said then clapped his friend on the back.
"Well, come on. Take me home and shit, I got beers to drink and passing out to do."

"Alright, peace out fools. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Dillon said waving slightly.

"Night guys." I said then turned to Matt. "Well, I'd better get going."

He nodded and was about to answer me when his phone rang. He reached in his pocket and pulled it out. "Hello?" He answered.
"Yeah...uh huh... what? Seriously? Uh... okay. Sure.. yeah. Alright. Bye." He hung up and looked at me for a second before crossing his arms. "So..that was Jimmy. He said that he's broke down on the interstate and he wants us to come get him."

I stiffened up. "Is he okay? By broken down he doesn't mean like...car wrecked or anything right? He did have a rough night."

"Rough as in kinky sex rough or..."

I slapped Matt's arm.

"Ouch." He said and rubbed it.

"No not that. You know how messed up he got."

"Yeah well... he wasn't involved in a crash or anything. Just a flat tire or something."

I sighed. "You don't have to go get him, I'll go. I know it's a pain in the ass and you said you gotta work tomorrow so..."

Matt shook his head. "I'll go too. I gotta take the truck anyway to tow him. It's not like you'd be able to haul that hunk of shit back with your hunk of shit."

"Hey! Come on, don't knock the ride. Jeez. I'll drive since you're drunk."

"I'm not actually drunk, I only had like four beers. I'm fine, but if you wanna drive out then that's cool with me. Come on."

We hopped in his truck and then set off to find Jimmy, who had neglected to text or call me all night. I tried to put it out of my head, that maybe he was just calling Matt because he had no one else to get a hold of, but the more I thought about it the more I was convinced that he was avoiding me.

"What's up with you? Why are you so quiet?" Matt asked.

"Nothing. No reason." I said staring out the window.

"Come on. Something must be up. Don't tell me it's about Jimmy."
I remained silent.

"LAYLA!" He yelled.

"It's not that I'm having any doubts or anything like that, it's just...well what if he changes his mind?!"

"Jimmy isn't gonna change his mind."

"How do you know? I mean sure you might know him really well, but how do you KNOW?"

"What's up with the paranoia all the sudden? Jimmy got all fucked up when he thought you were with another dude, so it's not like he's gonna be like 'ohhhh three years later, nahhh. Just kiddin'."
I looked over at Matt and he smiled at me.

"Look, I wouldn't have had the whole speech about breaking his heart and me being pissed off if I thought he wasn't interested. What part of 'he's in love with you' don't you understand?"

I sighed. "Maybe because all of my life when a dude tells me he loves me, it's all been just bullshit. Like, they literally either just sleep with me and leave or they lead me on like I'm some kind of fuckin' game or something. Or you get the guys in there like Jeremy- not saying that Jimmy is in ANY way like him but... you know? After so many failed attempts at this whole 'love' thing, I'm ten times more afraid to do it. Especially with Jimmy."

"Well, TRUST me. Jimmy is in love with you and he's not gonna change his mind. He's VERY picky about who he lets his heart go out to because he's also been fucked over a zillion times. Not by a zillion girls either, so what's that tell you? He's let the same few walk all over his heart multiple times."

"I just want things to work out. Really really bad. Is that so much to ask? I don't wanna have all these stupid thoughts running through my head about 'oh is he still in to me' or 'ohh is he gonna dump me the first chance he gets'..'maybe he changed his mind and he's just not gonna mention it right now and I'll wake up and find him moved across the country'. You know?"

Matt laughed. "Jimmy isn't like that. If he goes back to Cali, he better let me fuckin' know about it."

We continued down the road, Matt trying to calm my unrealistic fears, until we reached the road to get to the interstate. When we drove completely passed it and Matt didn't so much as look back I cleared my throat.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Where are we going? I thought he was on the interstate."

"About that...he's not."

"What? So then what are we doing?"

He grinned. "You'll see when we get there."

I felt a small little surge of worry go through me, not that I thought Matt would kill me and leave my body somewhere but because maybe Jimmy was cheating on me and this was how he was going to show me.

"Christ." I mumbled outloud.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just my imagination running off with me again."

He laughed loudly. "Look, Layla, I swear to God and whatever else you want me to, on whoever's grave, that Jimmy is fine, and we're going to him right now. There's just a small detour that I gotta make. That's all."

I nodded. "Alright, I believe you."

"You better. I wouldn't lie to you."

-

It turned out the road that we were looking for was an old abandoned camp road that lead to the opposite side of town. When we emerged on to actual pavement my eyes widened as I recognized where we were.

"You drove thirty miles out of the way just to come to my camp? Why here?" I sat up and looked around out the window.

"Yeah. And because I was asked to, that's why."

"By who?"

"Jimmy."

"Why would he want you to take me out to hell and creation and back just to get to my camp? And why would he make me think that he's broken down somewhere...what's going on?"

Another laugh from Matt then he shrugged. "I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. I just know what I was told to do and I'm doing it like a good little boy."

We drove a few miles until we reached the dirt road that would lead to camp and when we reached the end, many hours longer than I had planned to be out, Jimmy was waiting for us with a large camp fire going.

"End of the line ma'am." Matt said putting the truck in park.

"What?"

"Get out! Tell Jimmy I said hey though."

"You're not coming?"

"No, something tells me you two are gonna want alone time."

"Okay..."

He winked at me. "Seriously. Just go to him."

"I feel like I'm in some kind of Disney movie." I said as I reached over and opened the door, watching Jimmy stand in front of the fire the entire time.

"Well, you're not. I doubt Disney says the word 'fuck' as many times as we do in an hour."

"That'd be something. The Little Fucking Mermaid. Or The Fucking Lion King."

"Haha, alright, get out before I have to toss you out." He said and reached over with a strong hand and nudged me.

"Alright, okay, I'm going. Thanks for the ride, I guess."

He nodded. "Any time."

I hopped out and shut the door then watched Matt drive off back
toward the road. When he was out of sight I turned around and walked back over to Jimmy who was grinning at me like a fool.

"Hey... so much for you being broke down, huh?" I asked.

"I know. I'd like to think it was one of my more genius plans."

"Really? What for? Like, why did you have him take me in to the woods and back before we could come here?"

"Because. I wanted it to be a surprise. Are you surprised?"

I looked around and nodded. "Yeah. I'd say. So..what's the occasion?"

Jimmy walked up to me and grabbed my hands and pulled me close to him. I could smell the same cologne that I had gotten used to over the last few years and I breathed it in deeply. I would never forget that smell.

"I just wanted to show you how much you mean to me. That's all. I couldn't think of a better way so...I wanted to spend a few nights alone with you. Really alone. Just us. And maybe a few birds and spiders or whatever else might be out here."

I laughed. "You wanted to be alone with me?"

"I always wanna be alone with you." He said softly, then bent down and kissed me.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Always. Just us. Running around, doing whatever we want. I mean, I love my boys don't get me wrong, but sometimes I really wish it was just us in the world."

"I do too."

"Good. I'm glad to hear you say that. Come on." He let go of me, all except for my hand, then lead me down to the dock where my grandfather's boat was. "Get in." he said.

"We can't leave the fire going up there like that. What if it gets out of control?"

Jimmy huffed. "You really wanna bother me about forest fires, Smokey?"

I laughed. "If my grandfather came down here and found the fire unattended he would not only kill you but he would kill me. I really don't wanna do that."

"I cannot believe you're making me go back to put that out. Fine, hold on." He disappeared and a few minutes later I saw the fire smoke and puff in protest. When he came back he was being guided by the light of his cell phone.

"Thank you." I said as he crawled in the boat with me, untying it from the dock.

"No problem. Now, where were we?" He asked turning and sitting next to me.

"You were about to explain to me why we're out here and why you lied and said that you needed a tow."

He laughed. "Oh, yeah. Well... Like I said, I just wanted to spend some time with you. Alone. I wasn't sure if this was a romantic thing to do or not, since you know, I'm not very good at that kind of thing. I usually just go with the flow. With you it's different. I want to make an effort to make things nice, or do something to make you smile. I want to go out of my way and make things as unique for you and make you want to brag about me to all your friends."

"Okay..." I looked at him not really knowing what was going on, though he smiled at me happily.

"Layla, I love you. Very much. I think you know this by now, right?"
I nodded. "Of course. And I love you too."

"Good. Because... seven years is a long time to know someone, and care about them the way we care about each other. I feel like... I don't wanna waste my time dating you."

I felt my stomach flop harder than it had ever flopped before. So that was what this was? He wanted to bring me out here just as a kind of 'I'm sorry that I don't wanna date you but let's keep messing around' type of thing? Then why would he have said that he loved me and that he wanted to make me happy? It just didn't make sense.

"Oh." I said.

"No! No!" He reached over with his hand and lifted my chin so that I could look at him. "I don't wanna waste my time dating you because I know that you and I already know everything about each other. I know that your favorite color is green, and that you like oranges but not things that are flavored orange. I know that at night sometimes you say a prayer even though you're confused about religion. I know that even though you say things don't bother you sometimes, they do and you cry when you're alone because you don't want anyone else to worry about you. You like to take care of yourself, and you hate having help. Even when you need it most."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah..."

"And I know that you know a lot about me. Like how I hate it when people wear anything but shorts on hot summer days. Or how I freak out if there isn't any more salt in the salt shaker. Or how I'm deathly afraid of becoming an addict again...and not being able to stop myself for those who I really love...because sometimes the drugs are stronger than my willpower.."

I reached over and grabbed his hands and held them tightly in mine. "I know, and I won't ever let that happen again. I promise."
He smiled. "I know you wouldn't. That's why...I don't wanna dick around anymore, Lay. So...today when I told you that I was going to work...I lied." I watched him as he slowly reached in his pocket and pulled out a small dark object. "I had somewhere else to be. I didn't want you to know because.. well you know EVERYthing about me, like you said, and I wanted this to be a surprise."

"What?" I asked looking down and squinting trying to see what was in his hand.

"I've asked you this question a million times before, and even though I meant it each time it wasn't the right time to ask. I've been playing it out in my head, how I'd say it and all that shit when the time really came and I wanted a serious answer...and I don't think my imagination is good enough to prepare myself so..."

"Jimmy-" I said, my heart started racing as he got closer.

"I'm against getting down on one knee and all that bullshit.. in fact... I was really against marriage because to me it's just a piece of paper saying that we're in love... but you make it different. You make it so that I actually WANT someone to be with me for the rest of my life. I want you to say 'yeah, that's my husband and he's fuckin' awesome.' I know any other time I asked I was intoxicated or wasted or whatever...but this time I'm not. I'm serious as fuck this time."

"I..."

"Layla, please please please.... don't think that you're not good enough this time. You're more than good, you're the most amazing person I've ever met and I know this is short notice and I know we're just getting together romantically, but... I've wanted to spend the rest of my life with you for three years...no fuck it, I've wanted this for as long as I've known you... I just wasn't ready to admit it until three years ago. By then things between us were good but not in the way that I wanted...now that they are..."

"Jimmy..."

"Lay, will you please marry me?"
I felt my head get slightly dizzy from the excitement and then my heart nearly exploded out of my chest. I was warm all over and tingly.

"Please?" He asked.

"Like you even have to ask." I said and threw my arms around him.

"You will?" He asked.

"Of course I will!"

Jimmy laughed and then stood up and picked me up with him, swinging me around on the small space of the boat. I held on tightly and kissed the side of his neck.

"I know it seems all stupid and cheesy and whatever but.. I just have a feeling that this is what I was supposed to do. I love you so much and I don't know what else I could've done to prove it. I want you forever. Just you. All of you."

"You have me. All of me, just me forever and ever. As long as I have you for twice as long."

He smiled. "You do. I promise."

"You promise?" I asked again pulling away to look him in the eyes.

"I pinky promise." He said.