Status: In progress
Home With You
Prologue - Just A Corner Bar, In a College Town
It all began one fateful Saturday night, mid-March, in a dive bar on the outskirts of Austin, Texas.
Alex was decidedly drunk, but not enough to be oblivious to the fact that there was a beautiful girl sitting at the bar, alone. She looked young, but Alex figured it was a safe play as otherwise she wouldn't have been sitting there with a whiskey sour in front of her, so he dragged himself up from the small table at the back of the room and practically stumbled over to the bar, liquid courage fuelling his mission.
“Hi there, I’m Alex,” he managed to get out, his Maryland accent showing he wasn’t a native to their surroundings. Alex gulped after a few seconds had past, filled with silence as the girl continued to look down at her drink which Alex noticed was untouched. Eventually, to Alex’s relief, she turned to face him and raised an eyebrow.
“JC,” she countered, then raised a hand to her face to tuck her thick, dark brown hair behind her ear. “My name… it’s JC.” With that, the girl gave a small smile and then turned back to her drink, hoping that the interaction would terminate there as she wasn't really much of a talker.
“You from around here, JC?” Alex asked, trying hard to keep the conversation going by picking up on the fact that she had spoken with a soft Southern accent. He could see that she was nervous but to be quite honest, Alex thought she was hot and was planning to take her home. His confidence level was sky high from the alcohol, and he’d worked with a lot less before.
“N-no… I’m from Melrose… Melrose, Louisiana. You’ve probably never heard of it, it’s a dang small town.” JC let out a small giggle but didn’t look up from her drink – that was until she heard the door for the bathroom on the other side of the bar open, which was when her head shot up and began to smile profusely.
Alex looked towards the door as well, and found himself looking at a man who was about the same age as himself, with strikingly similar features to JC.
“That’s my brother,” JC whispered, then hopped up from the bar and went over to him with the whiskey sour in hand. “I kept your drink safe, Sam.”
“Good girl. Did anyone bother y- who’s that?” Sam began, then caught sight of Alex and frowned deeply. JC lifted a hand to his arm and squeezed it gently.
“Nobody, he’s just a nice man who introduced himself to me, that’s all.” JC did all but bat her eyelashes at her brother, but Sam didn’t seem to be convinced as he took the drink from his sister, downed it quickly then walked past her and straight over to Alex.
“Listen here. You think you’re gonna pick up my little sister like she’s some two dollar whore?” Sam demanded, eyes furious as he squared up to Alex, “well, guess fucking what? She knows how to hold her own… and you’re goddamn lucky or you’d be across this room by now.”
With that, Sam stalked back to JC and grabbed her gently by the wrist then pulled her towards the exit, which caused her to bump her shoulder against Alex’s. “We’re going home,” he growled in her direction, and then to Alex – “she’s seventeen, by the way. You sick fuck.”
Alex stood there, a look of utter confusion on his face until he looked down and spotted a scrap of paper on the floor which he immediately assumed JC must’ve dropped when she collided with him. Bending down to pick it up, Alex smiled wide when he read what was scrawled across it in cursive.
‘Call me!’ and then what was obviously JC’s phone number.
The scary thing was, Alex actually wanted to do it.
***
The next morning when Alex woke up he could barely remember the events that had occurred the night before. He groaned as he opened his eyes and then brought his hand up to his face to shield himself from the hard light that was streaming through his hotel room window, but as he did so he brushed something thin and crumpled that was stuck to his face. When he pulled it off and examined it, everything came flooding back to him.
“JC…” he sounded out, his voice rough as he shot his arm out to the bedside table to feel about for his phone. When he found it, he immediately began to punch the digits in, but then stopped halfway through. “What am I doing…” he asked himself, groaning again as he covered his face with his free hand, “she’s 17!”
With that, Alex threw his phone down the bed and collapsed back in the bed, intending to fall asleep again so he didn't have to think about beautiful teenage girls in bars.
***
While JC and Sam were Louisiana natives, they were currently residing in a crappy Austin motel, and had been for about a month. They had always had a bad relationship with their parents and Sam had been the one to take the brunt of it, but when their father had dared to lay a hand on JC, Sam had woken her up in the middle of the night so they could pack their things and leave, heading west.
California was their ideal destination, but so far they had only made it as far as Texas where they had been staying for a while due to lack of money. JC had taken up a job as a waitress in a local diner, and Sam was pumping gas at the station opposite – but really, the money they were making was only enough for them to survive. They were an optimistic pair though, and insisted that one day they would make it to Los Angeles.
“Expecting a call?” Sam asked when he walked out from the bathroom and saw his sister cradling her phone with an anxious look on her face. His sudden question caused her to jump and she dropped her phone, almost like she had been caught red-handed doing something Sam didn't approve it. In actuality, she was… he just didn't know that.
“No, no… I'm just… bored,” she answered quickly, clearing her throat as she picked the phone up off the ground and put it on the rickety desk that was opposite her. Sam raised an eyebrow in confusion, but didn't press the matter.
JC sat and waited all day, but her phone never rang.
Alex was decidedly drunk, but not enough to be oblivious to the fact that there was a beautiful girl sitting at the bar, alone. She looked young, but Alex figured it was a safe play as otherwise she wouldn't have been sitting there with a whiskey sour in front of her, so he dragged himself up from the small table at the back of the room and practically stumbled over to the bar, liquid courage fuelling his mission.
“Hi there, I’m Alex,” he managed to get out, his Maryland accent showing he wasn’t a native to their surroundings. Alex gulped after a few seconds had past, filled with silence as the girl continued to look down at her drink which Alex noticed was untouched. Eventually, to Alex’s relief, she turned to face him and raised an eyebrow.
“JC,” she countered, then raised a hand to her face to tuck her thick, dark brown hair behind her ear. “My name… it’s JC.” With that, the girl gave a small smile and then turned back to her drink, hoping that the interaction would terminate there as she wasn't really much of a talker.
“You from around here, JC?” Alex asked, trying hard to keep the conversation going by picking up on the fact that she had spoken with a soft Southern accent. He could see that she was nervous but to be quite honest, Alex thought she was hot and was planning to take her home. His confidence level was sky high from the alcohol, and he’d worked with a lot less before.
“N-no… I’m from Melrose… Melrose, Louisiana. You’ve probably never heard of it, it’s a dang small town.” JC let out a small giggle but didn’t look up from her drink – that was until she heard the door for the bathroom on the other side of the bar open, which was when her head shot up and began to smile profusely.
Alex looked towards the door as well, and found himself looking at a man who was about the same age as himself, with strikingly similar features to JC.
“That’s my brother,” JC whispered, then hopped up from the bar and went over to him with the whiskey sour in hand. “I kept your drink safe, Sam.”
“Good girl. Did anyone bother y- who’s that?” Sam began, then caught sight of Alex and frowned deeply. JC lifted a hand to his arm and squeezed it gently.
“Nobody, he’s just a nice man who introduced himself to me, that’s all.” JC did all but bat her eyelashes at her brother, but Sam didn’t seem to be convinced as he took the drink from his sister, downed it quickly then walked past her and straight over to Alex.
“Listen here. You think you’re gonna pick up my little sister like she’s some two dollar whore?” Sam demanded, eyes furious as he squared up to Alex, “well, guess fucking what? She knows how to hold her own… and you’re goddamn lucky or you’d be across this room by now.”
With that, Sam stalked back to JC and grabbed her gently by the wrist then pulled her towards the exit, which caused her to bump her shoulder against Alex’s. “We’re going home,” he growled in her direction, and then to Alex – “she’s seventeen, by the way. You sick fuck.”
Alex stood there, a look of utter confusion on his face until he looked down and spotted a scrap of paper on the floor which he immediately assumed JC must’ve dropped when she collided with him. Bending down to pick it up, Alex smiled wide when he read what was scrawled across it in cursive.
‘Call me!’ and then what was obviously JC’s phone number.
The scary thing was, Alex actually wanted to do it.
***
The next morning when Alex woke up he could barely remember the events that had occurred the night before. He groaned as he opened his eyes and then brought his hand up to his face to shield himself from the hard light that was streaming through his hotel room window, but as he did so he brushed something thin and crumpled that was stuck to his face. When he pulled it off and examined it, everything came flooding back to him.
“JC…” he sounded out, his voice rough as he shot his arm out to the bedside table to feel about for his phone. When he found it, he immediately began to punch the digits in, but then stopped halfway through. “What am I doing…” he asked himself, groaning again as he covered his face with his free hand, “she’s 17!”
With that, Alex threw his phone down the bed and collapsed back in the bed, intending to fall asleep again so he didn't have to think about beautiful teenage girls in bars.
***
While JC and Sam were Louisiana natives, they were currently residing in a crappy Austin motel, and had been for about a month. They had always had a bad relationship with their parents and Sam had been the one to take the brunt of it, but when their father had dared to lay a hand on JC, Sam had woken her up in the middle of the night so they could pack their things and leave, heading west.
California was their ideal destination, but so far they had only made it as far as Texas where they had been staying for a while due to lack of money. JC had taken up a job as a waitress in a local diner, and Sam was pumping gas at the station opposite – but really, the money they were making was only enough for them to survive. They were an optimistic pair though, and insisted that one day they would make it to Los Angeles.
“Expecting a call?” Sam asked when he walked out from the bathroom and saw his sister cradling her phone with an anxious look on her face. His sudden question caused her to jump and she dropped her phone, almost like she had been caught red-handed doing something Sam didn't approve it. In actuality, she was… he just didn't know that.
“No, no… I'm just… bored,” she answered quickly, clearing her throat as she picked the phone up off the ground and put it on the rickety desk that was opposite her. Sam raised an eyebrow in confusion, but didn't press the matter.
JC sat and waited all day, but her phone never rang.