You Had Me at "I Hate You"

We drove back to the apartment in silence.

We pulled up to Linc's parking space, and sat there for a moment.

"Thanks," I mumbled.
"No problem."

More silence.

Then, suddenly, I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. It was awkward over the hump of the arm rest, but he didn't seem to mine. He kissed my hair in a friendly way and patted my back.

"I can't believe it," I told him, my voice muffled in his neck. "I just can't believe it."
"I can," he said. "Sometimes things really are too good to be true. Sometimes your best bet is with someone who's less than perfect."

I pulled back and looked at him accusingly. He realized that he's said too much.

Quickly, he muttered, "Let's get back into the house. Gavin's over. He's cooking dinner."

He opened the door, and got out of his car, not even bothering to open mine. I followed him. We crossed the street in silence. I tried to squeeze some sympathy out of him by resting my head on his shoulder, but he pretended not to notice.

Just as we were about to enter our apartment building, I caught his arm.

"Lincoln Fletcher!" I cried angrily.
"What?" he asked.
"Comfort me!"

He blinked in surprise. "I don't know what you want me to... I'm not sure how to..."

I roared in frustration and kicked at a small tree that had been planted in a plot of earth on the sidewalk. It rustled violently, dropping various leaves down to the ground.

"Uh, if you're going to throw something, can you warn me?" Linc asked hesitantly. "Things you throw seem to have a magnetic pull towards my face. And ever since the fourth grade, when Jesse kicked that soccer ball into the back of my head, my reflexes aren't so hot-"

"THAT BASTARD!" I repeated, clenching my fists. Sorrow had gave way to anger.

"Yeah. I can see you're pretty upset... To avoid being hurt, do you mind if I...?" he gestured to the building. He wanted to leave me.

That's when I broke down. I sank onto the ground, covering my face with my hands. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I sucked in my breath to avoid sobbing.

"Uh... Vi? You okay?" Lincoln asked awkwardly.
"Yeah," I replied. I bent my head to hide that fact that I was crying so heavily. I tried to make my voice cheery, but it sounded thick and false. "You can go. I'm okay."

He knew I was lying, and sat down next to me. I could tell that he wasn't very big on the whole "comfort" thing.

"Well, at least you're not ugly!" he said, trying to make a joke.
I sniffed.
Linc sighed. "Look, I'm not very good at this. You were a lot closer to Aiden than I was to Naomi... And I'm sorry."
"You were right. You aren't very good at this," I said, wiping my streaming eyes.

"Well, then I need some help-"
"The professional kind," I interrupted.
"Ha, ha. What a riot," he answered dryly. "No, I mean... If you were me, what would you say to cheer you up?"

"Huh?"
"Just tell me what to do!"
I laughed a little. "Okay, well, first, say 'Aiden is a lying, cheating bastard, and he doesn't deserve you,'" I instructed.

"Aiden is the biggest douche bag I've ever seen, and you shouldn't cry over the maggot, because, right now, he's probably also dating his cousin."
"Ooh, extra points for the flourish!" I said with a smile.
"I try," Lincoln grinned.

"Now say something about how pretty I am," I ordered.
"When you cry, your eyes look like giant red marshmallows of beauty."
"Uh, A for effort, Linc," I reassured him.

"What's next?" he wondered, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Go find me a jacket," I instructed.
"Why?"
"Because it's twenty effing degrees out here!" I cried.

He laughed.
"Nah, you can just wear mine," he offered as he took it off. I watched as he removed his raggedy leacher jacket.

I tugged it on. It smelled like new guitar strings and spicy boy cologne.

"Oh my God..." I breathed. "Is this the same cologne that I threw at you?"
He smiled in remembrance. "Uh... Yeah... I kind of took it to heart when you said that I stunk."

I laughed and breathed in the warm smell of his jacket, wrapping it around me like a security blanket.

Suddenly, he leaned over, tucked my hair behind my ear, and kissed me on that one spot... right below my ear, where my jawbone started...

It was our thing...

I remembered back to Christmas, and to New Years, and to the Hospital.

That one spot had kind of become our "thing."
I was surprised, to say the least.

Linc tried to act like he hadn't done anything.

"Better?" he asked, standing up, jumping up and down, and rubbing his arms. "Can we go back inside, where it's warm? Now?"
I wiped the last remnants of tears off my face with the sleeves of Lincoln's jacket, which was slightly too big for me.

"Yeah," I replied.

Once we got inside, I was greeted with a warm welcome. Everyone seemed to realize that I hadn't meant to publish the article, and they'd forgiven me. I hugged everyone, and, as I did so, Jesse looked at Linc's jacket in surprise.

Jesse wolf-whistled at me. He was holding Harry Potter in the crook of his arm, and tickling his nose.

Massia looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. Jesse leaned over and whispered something in her ear, cluing her in.

"Oh!" she cried in realization. "Really?"
Jesse nodded, wearing a grin.
"Bom chika wah wah!" she sang.

I raised an eyebrow at Lincoln, who was looking around at Jesse and Massia nervously.

Gavin, Jesse's brother, poked his head out from the kitchen, which was connected to the living room.

"Hey! You've got Lincoln's leather jacket!" he cried, throwing in a wink.
"Yeah...?" I replied slowly.

I was confused. I looked from Jesse, who was bouncing up and down and smiling like an idiot, to Gavin, who was still winking at me like he had a twitch.

Gavin went back into the kitchen to continue cooking the meal before his girlfriend, Julia, arrived.

I turned back to Lincoln, who I caught in the middle of waving his hands back and forth, mouthing, "No! No! No!" over and over again at Jesse. Lincoln noticed that I was looking at him, immediately clasped his hands behind his back like a choir boy, and gave me his famous child-like smile.

"Wait, what's so special about this jacket?" I asked them.
"You mean you don't know?" Jesse asked.
"No! What's going on?" I shouted.

"He only gives his leather jacket to..." Jesse began, but then trailed off, looking at Linc.

I turned to see him drawing a finger across his throat and looking directly at Jesse.

"Uh... He only gives his leather jacket to... His best friends!" Jesse finished lamely, setting Harry Potter down on the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Gavin cried from the kitchen. "Lincoln doesn't give his jacket to his friends! Shit, if he did, I wouldn't have been locked out of the house in only my boxers last Christmas!" he continued. "Lincoln only gives that jacket to- HEY! JESSE, YOU BASTARD!"

Jesse had snuck into the kitchen, and stolen a turkey leg. Gavin snatched it back, trying to replace it without making it too obvious that it had been ripped off. He was being completely OCD about this dinner, making sure that everything would be perfect for Julia.

Gavin reached out and grabbed the front of Jesse's shirt, balling up his fist, ready to punch.

Massia rushed over and flicked both of them on the forehead.

"Gav, let him go before I tell Julia about the Noodle Incident!"
Gavin gasped. "How did you find out about that?"
"Jesse told me."

Gavin narrowed his eyes at his little brother once more before letting go of Jesse, who was licking the turkey flavoring off his fingers. He retreated back into the kitchen.

"And you need to shut up!" Massia added to Jesse. "Lincoln doesn't want her to know!"

"He doesn't?" Jesse asked, realization hitting his face.
"Of course not!" Massia replied.

"What!" I exclaimed. "Know what? Know what?!"

They both fell silent, their eyes flitting from me to Lincoln, with anxious looks on their faces.

"Uh... Well... Who wants to go watch a movie?" Lincoln asked loudly, trying to change the subject.

Suddenly, Gavin reappeared in the living room.

He winked at me again and said, "You know, Lincoln only gives that jacket to girls that he likes."

Everyone groaned.

"What?" I yelled in disbelief.

"Way to go, Gavin!" Jesse moaned.
"What?" he cried. "What'd I do?"
"Lincoln didn't want Violet to know that he's got the hots for her, dumbass!" Massia shouted.

I whipped my head to look at Lincoln. He was blushing a deep, deep scarlet.

"No! No, it's not like that!" he protested. "I was... You were... You said it was cold! You were crying! What was I supposed to do?"

I raised an eyebrow. "So... You don't like me in that way?"
"No!" Lincoln cried, relieved.
I sighed. "Good! Can you imagine how awkward it would be if we dated?"
Lincoln laughed. "I know!"

Jesse tilted his head to the side. "I dunno... I can see you two together..."
"Yeah," Massia agreed. "Me too. You'd make a cute couple."
"And it's not like you two have never kissed before," Jesse added, referring to the many times he'd interrupted Linc and I.

Gavin laughed, and Linc and I groaned in embarrassment.

A timer dinged from the kitchen. Harry Potter was startled by the noise, and jumped up about a foot in the air.

"Dinner's ready!" Gavin called.
Massia's stomach had been growling for hours, and, she was so excited that she squealed and hugged Gavin tightly.

He dashed off to the oven, anxiously checking the door to make sure Julia hadn't arrived yet.

I took Linc's jacket off and handed it to him.

"Here," I said, holding it out to him. "Thanks."
"No problem," he answered, taking it and hanging it up on a hook by the door. "Any time."

And, I could tell by the look in his eyes, that he meant it.