Status: Hoping to upload a chapter every Saturday, a little weekend treat :)
Getting Surreal
XXXXI
Forty minutes later, and Becks found herself parting ways with all the guys and heading back to her bus alone. Mike and Tom needed to go take part in a meeting for their band, and Mince and Barry were off to hang with some of the tech guys from Saosin. They had invited her to go along with them, but she told them she was hearing the couch on her bus call her name.
She was humming happily to herself as she pulled open the door and made her way up the bus stairs then, glancing around and seeing that nobody was in the front section, she headed straight for the couch and curled herself into a ball, content and ready to nap off her food coma from all the pizza she had eaten. As she lay there, Becks could hear some faint talking and acoustic-y music playing wafting from the back lounge where the guys had made their own little practice space, and she let the comforting sounds wash over her and sooth her as she shut her eyes.
She was just beginning to dream when the couch cushion her head was on suddenly sank, jolting her awake.
“Whoa, wha…” She blinked and sat up, shaking her head as though to clear the fright and saw Mikey sitting there laughing.
“Good morning.” He tried to say it sweetly, but he was laughing too hard to even play at casual.
Becks let out a small huff, glaring at him in faux anger. “You did that on purpose,” she said, jabbing a finger towards him. Mikey just shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back smugly into his seat, looking at her with a strong air of pleased with himself.
“So what if I did?” He challenged, quirking an eyebrow at her.
Becks narrowed her eyes further and eyed him up and down for a moment, debating how to respond. As she looked, though, she couldn’t help but realize with a sudden funny feeling in her stomach just how good confidence looked on him. Realizing that she was just staring at him and still hadn’t answered his question, Becks did her best to ignore the flush on her cheeks and stretched, stifling a fake yawn.
“Nothing, I suppose,” she drawled, leaning back against the arm of the couch and throwing her legs over his. Mikey looked down for a second and when he looked back up at her, he was smiling.
“Good,” he said. They looked at each other for a minute before he added, clearly as an afterthought, “I’m bored.” It was Becks’ turn to chuckle.
“And it’s my job to fix that?” She asked and Mikey nodded his head, looking all shades of adorable like a puppy waiting for a treat. “Okayyy….” She settled into her seat a little more, sliding down the couch a bit, leaving her just a shift or two shy of being in his lap. “Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee?”
Mikey’s smile was infectious.
---
“Dude, have you seen my brother?” Gerard asked as he walked into the back lounge and threw himself down on the couch next to Frank.
“Yeah, he’s up front probably molesting my tech,” Frank replied monotone, playing with his phone.
“What?” Gerard asked in a laugh.
“Yeah,” Frank said, eyes still glued to the screen, “they’ve been up there together since we wrapped up practice.” There was a slight pause, then,
“Alone?”
“Yeah,” Frank answered, his tone suggesting a ‘no duh,’ with a nod of his head.
Suddenly, he stiffened in his seat and looked up at Gerard who was quirking a mischievous eyebrow at him. Frank felt a wicked sort of grin smile spread across his face as he read his friend’s mind.
---
“No, no, no, it’s your turn!” Mikey said, giving Becks a playful shove.
“No, I gotta know! How did you even live like that?” Becks asked him, giggling from her spot on the couch next to him. They had had the whole front section of the bus to themselves for nearly a half hour now, yet they had chosen to remain sitting, squished together on the couch, completely ignoring the rest of the space.
“No, I’m telling you!” Mikey laughed, too. “If I didn’t have glasses or contacts or whatever, if I wanted to see your face, I’d have to be like, here!” He moved his face so it was just inches from hers and she giggled, her eyes squinting shut in amusement. When she opened her eyes, though, she froze.
His face was so…close. His lips, just a few inches away, their noses almost touching, and his eyes, they just….
He was right there.
“God, I love your eyes,” Becks breathed out, practically reverently, not being able to stop her hand as it reached up almost to cup his cheek but stopping short, her fingertips just grazing the top of his cheekbone.
Mikey found himself unable to speak, staring openly at the girl barely inches from him. His heart was pounding and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. All he could do was look at Becks, taking her in from those bright eyes that he had always been so drawn to to the few scattered freckles across her the tops of her cheeks and to her lips. They were right there….
And suddenly, Mikey couldn’t help himself anymore.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, he angled his head just a tiny bit and leaned in the rest of the way, his eyes falling shut as his lips very, very gently brushed against hers.
It was sweet and it was chaste, but Mikey didn’t let up, holding there for a long moment before coming to his senses and moving to pull away. His lips barely even left hers when Becks finally responded, grabbing his face lightly and kissing him back shyly, but strongly.
Mikey let out a tiny keen of happiness, his arms moving to wrap around her waist as their lips moved in sync. He was smiling and he could feel her smiling too and it felt so good to finally be kissing her and he was near overjoyed and….
And then there was the distinctive click of the polaroid camera going off.
Moving his face quickly away from Becks’, Mikey looked in the direction of the sound to see his brother standing there, camera in hand and Frank right next to him, waving the developing photo in the air, the both of them with the biggest shit-eating-grins he’d ever seen in his life.
“Fucking finally, you two,” Gerard gave a thumbs up.
“Oh, sorry, did we interrupt?” Frank jested.
“Oh my God,” Becks muttered, burying her face in Mikey’s chest, trying to hide her burning face.
“Fuck off,” Mikey said, giving his friends his middle finger. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face, though, and his tone was anything but threatening.
“You kids have fun, now,” Gerard drawled as he winked a ‘congrats’ at his brother and started backing out of the front section of the bus, grabbing on to Frank’s shirt collar and dragging him along.
“Use protection!” Frank shouted as they reached the bunk area, just out of sight.
Mikey watched after them quietly until he heard the door to the back lounge click shut, signaling that they were gone. Only then, did he look down at the girl hiding her face in his shirt. With a tiny smile expressing nothing but fondness and that strange sense of peace when true happiness takes over, he brought the hand of the arm that wasn’t holding her lightly (but firm enough to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere) around the waist up to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear.
When Becks felt her hair that she may or may not have been hiding behind move, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced up at Mikey, their gazes catching immediately, and it was like electricity and she couldn’t look away.
“Hey,” he all but whispered, ducking his head down a little to get as proper a look at her as he could.
“Hey,” Becks whispered back, sharing his tiny, silly little ‘holy shit, did that just happen’ grin. She felt like her whole body was buzzing, but was unsure of what she should do next, so she just let herself get lost in his eyes for a moment.
“You okay?”
Becks blinked when she heard his voice and realized that he was no longer grinning, but looked a little nervous. Biting her lip just a little, Becks nodded dazedly, still openly staring at the boy she was only just now beginning to realize the full extent of her feelings for, like the floodgates to her understanding had opened.
“Yeah?” Mikey asked, still searching her face.
“Yeah,” Becks whispered back, unable to keep her gaze from drifting down to his lips, those lips, again for a second before looking back up into his eyes.
“Can I, um...” Mikey reached up and smoothed some of her hair down before cupping her cheek, letting his thumb graze ever so lightly over her skin, causing her to let out a shaky breath.
“What?” She asked in a whisper, hoping against hope that he was asking for what she thought.
“Uh,” Mikey stuttered and Becks noted vaguely somewhere in the back of her mind that he seemed as breathless as she as he ducked his head a couple inches closer, leaving not much space at all between them, “can I...can I kiss you again?”
She was nodding enthusiastically before he’d even gotten the whole question out and the second his lips touched hers again, she could have died of happiness.
She was humming happily to herself as she pulled open the door and made her way up the bus stairs then, glancing around and seeing that nobody was in the front section, she headed straight for the couch and curled herself into a ball, content and ready to nap off her food coma from all the pizza she had eaten. As she lay there, Becks could hear some faint talking and acoustic-y music playing wafting from the back lounge where the guys had made their own little practice space, and she let the comforting sounds wash over her and sooth her as she shut her eyes.
She was just beginning to dream when the couch cushion her head was on suddenly sank, jolting her awake.
“Whoa, wha…” She blinked and sat up, shaking her head as though to clear the fright and saw Mikey sitting there laughing.
“Good morning.” He tried to say it sweetly, but he was laughing too hard to even play at casual.
Becks let out a small huff, glaring at him in faux anger. “You did that on purpose,” she said, jabbing a finger towards him. Mikey just shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back smugly into his seat, looking at her with a strong air of pleased with himself.
“So what if I did?” He challenged, quirking an eyebrow at her.
Becks narrowed her eyes further and eyed him up and down for a moment, debating how to respond. As she looked, though, she couldn’t help but realize with a sudden funny feeling in her stomach just how good confidence looked on him. Realizing that she was just staring at him and still hadn’t answered his question, Becks did her best to ignore the flush on her cheeks and stretched, stifling a fake yawn.
“Nothing, I suppose,” she drawled, leaning back against the arm of the couch and throwing her legs over his. Mikey looked down for a second and when he looked back up at her, he was smiling.
“Good,” he said. They looked at each other for a minute before he added, clearly as an afterthought, “I’m bored.” It was Becks’ turn to chuckle.
“And it’s my job to fix that?” She asked and Mikey nodded his head, looking all shades of adorable like a puppy waiting for a treat. “Okayyy….” She settled into her seat a little more, sliding down the couch a bit, leaving her just a shift or two shy of being in his lap. “Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee?”
Mikey’s smile was infectious.
---
“Dude, have you seen my brother?” Gerard asked as he walked into the back lounge and threw himself down on the couch next to Frank.
“Yeah, he’s up front probably molesting my tech,” Frank replied monotone, playing with his phone.
“What?” Gerard asked in a laugh.
“Yeah,” Frank said, eyes still glued to the screen, “they’ve been up there together since we wrapped up practice.” There was a slight pause, then,
“Alone?”
“Yeah,” Frank answered, his tone suggesting a ‘no duh,’ with a nod of his head.
Suddenly, he stiffened in his seat and looked up at Gerard who was quirking a mischievous eyebrow at him. Frank felt a wicked sort of grin smile spread across his face as he read his friend’s mind.
---
“No, no, no, it’s your turn!” Mikey said, giving Becks a playful shove.
“No, I gotta know! How did you even live like that?” Becks asked him, giggling from her spot on the couch next to him. They had had the whole front section of the bus to themselves for nearly a half hour now, yet they had chosen to remain sitting, squished together on the couch, completely ignoring the rest of the space.
“No, I’m telling you!” Mikey laughed, too. “If I didn’t have glasses or contacts or whatever, if I wanted to see your face, I’d have to be like, here!” He moved his face so it was just inches from hers and she giggled, her eyes squinting shut in amusement. When she opened her eyes, though, she froze.
His face was so…close. His lips, just a few inches away, their noses almost touching, and his eyes, they just….
He was right there.
“God, I love your eyes,” Becks breathed out, practically reverently, not being able to stop her hand as it reached up almost to cup his cheek but stopping short, her fingertips just grazing the top of his cheekbone.
Mikey found himself unable to speak, staring openly at the girl barely inches from him. His heart was pounding and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. All he could do was look at Becks, taking her in from those bright eyes that he had always been so drawn to to the few scattered freckles across her the tops of her cheeks and to her lips. They were right there….
And suddenly, Mikey couldn’t help himself anymore.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, he angled his head just a tiny bit and leaned in the rest of the way, his eyes falling shut as his lips very, very gently brushed against hers.
It was sweet and it was chaste, but Mikey didn’t let up, holding there for a long moment before coming to his senses and moving to pull away. His lips barely even left hers when Becks finally responded, grabbing his face lightly and kissing him back shyly, but strongly.
Mikey let out a tiny keen of happiness, his arms moving to wrap around her waist as their lips moved in sync. He was smiling and he could feel her smiling too and it felt so good to finally be kissing her and he was near overjoyed and….
And then there was the distinctive click of the polaroid camera going off.
Moving his face quickly away from Becks’, Mikey looked in the direction of the sound to see his brother standing there, camera in hand and Frank right next to him, waving the developing photo in the air, the both of them with the biggest shit-eating-grins he’d ever seen in his life.
“Fucking finally, you two,” Gerard gave a thumbs up.
“Oh, sorry, did we interrupt?” Frank jested.
“Oh my God,” Becks muttered, burying her face in Mikey’s chest, trying to hide her burning face.
“Fuck off,” Mikey said, giving his friends his middle finger. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face, though, and his tone was anything but threatening.
“You kids have fun, now,” Gerard drawled as he winked a ‘congrats’ at his brother and started backing out of the front section of the bus, grabbing on to Frank’s shirt collar and dragging him along.
“Use protection!” Frank shouted as they reached the bunk area, just out of sight.
Mikey watched after them quietly until he heard the door to the back lounge click shut, signaling that they were gone. Only then, did he look down at the girl hiding her face in his shirt. With a tiny smile expressing nothing but fondness and that strange sense of peace when true happiness takes over, he brought the hand of the arm that wasn’t holding her lightly (but firm enough to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere) around the waist up to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear.
When Becks felt her hair that she may or may not have been hiding behind move, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced up at Mikey, their gazes catching immediately, and it was like electricity and she couldn’t look away.
“Hey,” he all but whispered, ducking his head down a little to get as proper a look at her as he could.
“Hey,” Becks whispered back, sharing his tiny, silly little ‘holy shit, did that just happen’ grin. She felt like her whole body was buzzing, but was unsure of what she should do next, so she just let herself get lost in his eyes for a moment.
“You okay?”
Becks blinked when she heard his voice and realized that he was no longer grinning, but looked a little nervous. Biting her lip just a little, Becks nodded dazedly, still openly staring at the boy she was only just now beginning to realize the full extent of her feelings for, like the floodgates to her understanding had opened.
“Yeah?” Mikey asked, still searching her face.
“Yeah,” Becks whispered back, unable to keep her gaze from drifting down to his lips, those lips, again for a second before looking back up into his eyes.
“Can I, um...” Mikey reached up and smoothed some of her hair down before cupping her cheek, letting his thumb graze ever so lightly over her skin, causing her to let out a shaky breath.
“What?” She asked in a whisper, hoping against hope that he was asking for what she thought.
“Uh,” Mikey stuttered and Becks noted vaguely somewhere in the back of her mind that he seemed as breathless as she as he ducked his head a couple inches closer, leaving not much space at all between them, “can I...can I kiss you again?”
She was nodding enthusiastically before he’d even gotten the whole question out and the second his lips touched hers again, she could have died of happiness.
♠ ♠ ♠
:)