Plans to Make & Hearts to Break

"Good morning, love," Danny's voice spoke through the phone.

Standing in the kitchen, I took a few glances around. Sunny outside, and I was wide awake - definitely not morning. "You do know it's noon, right?" I chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. Time zones." He responded plainly.

"Wait, aren't you just in New York? You'd be ahead of home then, wouldn't you?"

"Actually..." He began. I bit my lip - I dreaded what I knew he was about to say. "There was a change of plans. The company thought there was a security problem just in the New York branch, but it's company-wide starting at the national headquarters." (Sometimes I felt like I was dating a spy. Which was awesome.) "So we had to take a red-eye to California last night, and we'll be out here at least a week to get things back to normal."

I couldn't hold in an upset sigh. "Thanks for letting me know," I said meekly. "At least take lots of pictures of California scenery for me when you can?"

"Of course, babe.' I heard the sadness in his voice, too. "I'm sorry I won't be able to make it home and see you. I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

He didn't respond for a few moments, and I heard some incoherent talking to someone away from the phone. "I gotta go, Nicole," He sighed, "I'll call you tonight. I love you."

"I love yo-" Mid-statement I looked at the screen of my phone to realize that the line had, in fact, gone dead. Whatever that other person told him must have been pretty important, I guess.

Phone in hand, I walked into the living room; might as well start unpacking my books. I'd barely gotten the box open before my phone chirped - there was a text from an unknown number. got a few hours to kill till the show, lunch?; reading the text I knew it was from William, so I quickly saved the number before responding.

At first, I wanted to say no. I wanted to curl up in my house and be depressed and miss my boyfriend.

But, I also wanted to eat food without having to cook and William definitely didn't seem like a bad person to go grab lunch with. Sounds good, where?

---

After getting lunch at a small diner downtown, William and I ended up sitting at a table outside and enjoying the sun while there was still time before his show.

"Oh god," William scoffed, expression sour. "I thought how much you liked strawberry ice cream was bad. But... you're... dipping fries into it? You can't be a person. You're an alien. A mutant."

"You've never tried it!" I protested, before dipping one of said fries into said milkshake and eating it. "It's sweet and salty at the same time and it tastes like perfection."

"I don't believe you. And no, I haven't tried it, because that is ridiculous and nasty and not going anywhere near my body."

I dipped another of the fries into the milkshake, now holding it out across the table. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," I teased.

He grimaced and watched and some of the melting milkshake dripped from the fry and onto the table. "Now you're making a horrible mess. I can't believe you." He said sarcastically, shaking his head. "And get that shit away from my face. Potatoes and strawberries are not a normal or appetizing combination of foods."

I shook my head and shoved the fry into my mouth. "You're just close-minded and aren't eating it because I like it and you hate me so you hate things I like."

"Maybe that's true," He laughed, casting a fake glare in my direction.

"You couldn't be intimidating if you tried, Beckett." I shook my head and ate another delicious french fry.

---

We ended up back near our homes about an hour before the show was scheduled to start. "I could just go with you, really," I suggested, "Saves gas and whatever."

He nodded in agreement. "I'll just grab my stuff, I didn't think we'd be gone that long or I would've just put it in the car," He shook his head. "You're gonna make me late."

"None of this is my fault. You're the one that suggested leaving in the first place. I was trying to unpack. Now we'll be late AND my house is still a mess. Totally your fault."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll just help you unpack tomorrow and we'll be even," He stated before exiting the car and jogging up to his house. He came back out a few minutes later wearing a different outfit and carrying his guitar case again. He put it across the back seat of his car before walking around and sitting back in the driver's.

"So you get to change clothes and I don't?" I laughed. "Are you really wearing suspenders?"

"Yes. And I was going to offer to let you go change but you made fun of my clothes so we're leaving."

"You're such a girl." I teased.

We were almost late to the show. But we got to the bar, which was not actually in Chicago itself, but a smaller city just outside. It was called The Three Aces; inside was decorated is mostly black, white, and red colors and there was a gaudy playing-card theme in the wall decorations. Overall, though, it wasn't too loud, and really didn't seem like a concert venue type of bar.

William went backstage right away, and I found small, high-top round table near the back of the room and sat in a stool to face the stage. I ordered an apple ale and waited for the music to begin.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. A boy and girl duo played first; they had a lot of fun acoustic covers to songs I heard on the radio a lot. William was next. From where I was sitting, I could tell he belonged on that stage. His lanky frame resting on a stool and guitar ready to play, he spoke into the mic. I could barely even listen to his introduction, because I was too busy watching how he just... captivated everyone in the room. He hadn't even started singing, and i could tell he was where he wanted to be.

Immediately after the introduction, he started to sing.

"I gotta stop and remember what my mother said:
It's in my blood
And I don't want to dampen the experience
Of living and learning and love.

I've got plans to make and hearts to break,
even if that heart is in my chest
And another thing,
I wouldn't bet on this one ending well...

Oh, oh, oh, one night, one time is not enough
Oh, oh, oh, in the moment I can't help myself
In the morning I'm gonna feel like hell
But I do it anyway.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I enjoy it
But I'm too far gone
And I've fought, climbing up the mountain
But I'm never quite reaching the top.

I've got plans to make and hearts to break
Even if that heart is in my chest
And another thing, I wouldn't bet on this one ending well
No, this won't end too well...

Oh, oh, oh, one night, one time is not enough
Oh, oh, oh, in the moment I can't help myself
In the morning I'm gonna feel like hell
But I do it anyway

I've got plans to make and hearts to break
Even if that heart is in my chest
Another thing, I wouldn't bet on this one ending well
No, this won't end too well...

Oh, oh, oh, one night, one time is not enough
Oh, oh, oh, in the moment I can't help myself
In the morning I'm gonna feel like hell

Oh, oh, oh, one night, one time is not enough
Oh, oh, oh, in the moment I can't help myself
In the morning I'm gonna feel like hell
But I do it anyway.

I've gotta stop and remember what my mother said:
It's in my blood"

I don't know what I had been expecting to hear when I came to this show, but this blew my mind. Just at a crappy bar with an acoustic guitar - I can't imagine what he'd sound like in better conditions.

He continued his set, and every song was phenomenal. I lived next door to a secret rock star.

---

William came out to my table a few minutes after he'd finished his set. Judging by the fact that he seemed to be holding in a laugh as he got closer to me, I was not containing my awe well.

"Holy shit," I finally spoke once he was seated across from me. "How did you - why did - holy shit."

"Thanks?" He laughed.

Unable to actually put words together into sentences, I took a long swig of my drink.

"You're not dipping fries into that, are you?" Suddenly, he was my neighbor again, not the star I'd just seen on the stage.

"Don't be disgusting," I laughed. "But seriously, you were great. Totally unexpected."

"So you expected me to be horrible!?" He scoffed.

My eyes widened. "Now you're just putting words into my mouth. I said no such thing."

"You were thinking it."

"Maybe. But maybe I wasn't. It's good you can't read minds," I smirked.

---

"I can't believe you're actually doing this," I laughed, leaning down next to my box of books.

"Hey! I told you I'd help you unpack. So I'm helping you unpack. What do you need me to do?"

"Put these books," I pointed into the box, "Onto these shelves." I moved my arm and pointed the the bookshelf directly next to the box. "Easy job. I'm gonna work on the kitchen." With that, I turned my back and headed to a box that was full of my dishes.

We were pretty quiet for a while, both focused on the tasks at hand. I'd gotten through about half of the box of dishes, wiping them down and putting them away, when I heard William speak. "Holy shit. Nicole, did you write this!?"

My eyes widened when I realized the draft of one of my personal books had been tucked in with the other books. I remembered what he was talking about before I had to see what was in his hands - a lime green binder full of papers - mostly together on the rings of the binder, but quite a few shoved into the pockets and just between the covers. "Drop the book," I snapped, walking towards him. Instead, he did the opposite. He stood and moved away from me, eyes glued to a page towards the center.

"Not bad," He spoke, not making eye contact. "How long did this take to write?"

"William Beckett, that is a private book. Give me that." I walked towards him, reaching out to grab the binder. He moved his eyes away from the page finally, if only to hold the binder far above my reach. "Why are you so damn tall? Stop being a child and give me my binder."

"I just want to read a little! You got to see what I do, now I want to see what you do!"

"You chose to let me see what you do. This was not my choice. Give it back." With that I jumped slightly to try and hit the binder out of his hand, realizing afterwards how horrible of an idea it was. I hit his arm, which he didn't expect. He dropped the binder, but pages flew out and scattered onto the floor. "Damn it. Daaaamn it," I groaned, leaning down to grab the binder. At the same moment, though, William must've bent down as well, because I heard him let out a small shout in surprise and he fell over to avoid our heads colliding.

Except, instead of just our heads colliding, he toppled me over with him. "Well, fancy meetin' you here!" He said with a fake drawl. I could feel his breath.

"Get offa me, Beckett," I hissed.

"Well, why should I do that? I'm pretty comfy."

"I swear to god. Move your skinny ass."

"Nah, I think I'm alright," He teased. "You know your floor's a little lumpy?"

Instead of speaking anymore, I attempted to wriggle my way out from beneath him. This is... weird.

The next thing I knew, William's hands were at my sides and I thought he had me pinned down, but instead he started to tickle me. I'm basically more ticklish than anyone I know. My initial reaction was to scream. To which he just laughed. "You're... evil," I said between breaths, still trying to move away from him. "This is no fair!"

"Fine, fine, I'll stop," William laughed, finally letting up a little. "But, one condition."

"What is that?" I smirked.

Instead of responding, though, he just pushed his lips onto mine. For a moment I returned the pressure, before I came to my senses.

Fuck. Shit. What the hell was that. Fuck. basically covered the stream of words now flooding my mind. With some force, I pushed the lanky figure away from me before scooting backwards and standing up as quickly as I could. There was a moment of awkward eye contact before I turned and stormed down the hallway. I slammed the door to my room and leaned against it, fighting tears.

Why am I doing this? What the fuck am I thinking? I'm not a cheater. The thought disgusts me. Why did that just happen?

"Nicole?" William spoke weakly from the other side of the door.

Fuck.