Status: Haitus
What Do You Want From Me?
04
It had been weeks since Delaney had completely cut Alex off. Delaney had spent the better part of the last month actively avoiding anyone situation which may cause her to be left alone with Alex. At first, he had actively pursued her, but with Jack around and her taking on a few more clients, Alex hadn’t been able to find ample opportunity to get Delaney alone long enough to make any passes.
While it had been exceedingly hard in the beginning to avoid Alex and any situation that may put her alone with Alex, it had become easier, just as Jack had told her it would. Delaney figured that it was mostly easier because she had basically substituted any time that she had been spending with Alex with spending time with Jack instead. She didn’t have much chance to miss Alex or dwell on her crush on him while hanging out with Jack. Like a true best friend, he had helped to distract her by taking up almost every waking hour outside of work that Delaney had.
“Aren’t you sick of being around me all of the time yet?” Delaney asked, sitting on the back porch of Jack’s house, laying on the lounge chairs with beers in their hands.
“Is that your way of telling me you’re tired of seeing my face?” Jack retorted, laughed spilling past her lips at his question.
“No. I just figured you’d want to be spending some time with other people that you claim to be friends with. It isn’t fair to you to have to dedicate all of your time to being with me because I suck at will power.”
“You know I’d do anything to help you. And you need my help. So here I am, sitting with you on lounge chairs, with beers, on my back porch, having this petty discussion rather than contemplating the meaning of life.” Jack rattled off, a smile forming on Delaney’s face.
“Oh so you want to contemplate the meaning of life huh?” Delaney asked, smirk present, and eyebrows raised.
“I already know the meaning of my life. It’s to make music and party.” Jack said affirmatively, and Delaney just snorted in response. “Are you ready to party tonight?” Jack asked, instantly causing Delaney’s smile to fall and her nose to scrunch up.
“No.”
“Oh come on Laney!” Jack responded, rolling his eyes. “You can’t always be upset about our going away parties.”
“Sure I can. My life becomes significantly more dull when you all leave.” She said, and Jack just laughed at her.
“You know you have an open invitation to come with us.” Jack replied, and the brunette’s nose scrunched up again as she quickly shook her head no. “Why not? You have the ability to work from home, and you could easily work while on the road!”
“Aside from the fact that I would have to work on a cramped tour bus where my work files may end up damaged or missing, I’d also be stuck on a cramped tour bus with several guys who hardly clean up after themselves at home where they get yelled at for it often. I am not delusional enough to believe that you all keep that bus clean regularly.” Her pointed look had Jack rolling his eyes. “Aside from all that, joining on your tour would put me in close quarters with Alex 24/7 for almost 3 months.”
“Ok. That’s fair. But you should consider coming to visit. I mean, we both know you’re going to miss me while we’re gone. You can’t live without me.” Delaney laughed at Jack’s dramatics.
“Of course I’ll miss you, but come on! I can’t live without you? You’re getting more and more dramatic in your old age” She teased, laughing as Jack’s mouth dropped open, clutching his chest in feigned hurt.
“I’m only 6 months older than you! So rude! Why am I still friends with you?” He asked and Delaney shrugged, grabbing her beer and finishing it off before standing up.
“I’m really not sure, especially since I’m about to go grab what I’m pretty sure is your last beer.” She said with a laugh.
“Just wait until tonight. I’m going to steal every drink that ends up in your hand!” Jack called to her as she entered his house, only hearing laughter in return.
It wasn’t until later that night, at Zack’s house where the party was being hosted, that Delaney learned that Jack was going to be keeping his word.
“That son of a bitch” She muttered, realizing that Jack had managed to steal yet another drink from her. It was the fourth drink she had lost that night, and she was more sober than she wanted to be. While it was a party, it was a goodbye party to see her friends off for the next 3ish months, and she really didn’t want to be sober for such a sad occasion.
“LANEY” She closed her eyes upon hearing her name being called from behind her. She had been doing so well at avoiding him, that it was almost infuriating that now of all times, right before she would get a forced break from him, he would show up. She turned towards him, giving a small half hearted smile as he walked up to her, the redhead from a month ago standing next to him, his arm draped around her shoulders.
“Hey Alex.” She said.
“Hey! I wanted to introduce you to Riley! Riley, this is Laney, one of our best friends.” Delaney resisted the urge to roll her eyes, keeping her small smile on her face.
“It’s nice to meet you Riley” She replied, giving a small wave to the red head.
“You too. Alex talks about you a lot!” Riley said, and she shot a quick glance away from the red head to look at Alex, unsure why he would bring her up in any conversation. “He said you could maybe give me some advice on how to deal with them being gone, because you got used to it when you used to date Jack and you’ve been friends will all of them for years, dealing with them coming and going.”
Delaney nodded, wondering why in the world this woman was told so much by Alex. She wondered if Alex had been gutsy enough to mention that he used to sleep with her until she cut him off. She doubted it though.
“Yea, I’ve known the guys for almost 8 years, so I’ve seen them come and go a lot.” She nodded in agreement. “You just have to keep busy.” She said honestly, because she knew that’s all that really worked for herself, keeping busy to distract herself from noticing how quiet everything was when they were gone.
“Hey, you’re not drinking tonight?” Alex asked, noticing her empty hand, as he took a sip of his own beer.
“I’ve been trying to.” She said, causing the two to look at her curiously. “I took the last beer at Jack’s house today and he swore he was going to steal all of my drinks. I thought he’d forget, but he’s been persistent tonight. I’ve lost 4 drinks.” She explained, and the redhead laugh, while Alex gave her a look of confusion.
“Hey. I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” Riley said to Alex, leaning up to kiss him before walking away, leaving the two former lovers alone.
“She seems nice. Dating or stringing her along?” Delaney asked casually, Alex narrowing his eyes.
“She knows we’re just having fun.” Alex said, and Delaney rolled her eyes. “She does. I told her I’m not looking for anything more than something casual.”
“Sure she does. She also probably thinks that she can change you. You’re going to end up hurting her. Why bother helping her deal with you being gone when you could do the half way decent thing and end things before you leave. At least then she wouldn’t wait around for 3 months” Delaney bit back. It seemed like anytime that she was near Alex anymore, she either had the desire to kiss him, or bite his head off. She elected to give in to the latter feeling.
Alex chose to ignore her statement, opting to change the subject entirely. “You were with Jack again today huh? You two have been spending a lot more time together for the last month.”
“Jack’s my best friend. Of course I’ve been spending time with him. You guys are leaving tomorrow afternoon.” She said. “Or have you forgotten that I’ve been friends with him for almost 8 years?”
“Are you two fucking Del?” He asked, and she just rolled her eyes at him. And there was that nickname once again. She could just slap his arrogant, ridiculous face.
“It’s none of your business who I’m screwing Alex. You aren’t my keeper.” She hissed at him,, electing to stop talking as Riley returned. “It was nice meeting you Riley, but I’m gonna go see if I can find Jack and maybe commandeer one of my drinks back.” She said before walking away.
“I get three months away from him. Thank the lord.” She muttered to herself. Three months was just what she needed. Three months completely free of Alex.
While it had been exceedingly hard in the beginning to avoid Alex and any situation that may put her alone with Alex, it had become easier, just as Jack had told her it would. Delaney figured that it was mostly easier because she had basically substituted any time that she had been spending with Alex with spending time with Jack instead. She didn’t have much chance to miss Alex or dwell on her crush on him while hanging out with Jack. Like a true best friend, he had helped to distract her by taking up almost every waking hour outside of work that Delaney had.
“Aren’t you sick of being around me all of the time yet?” Delaney asked, sitting on the back porch of Jack’s house, laying on the lounge chairs with beers in their hands.
“Is that your way of telling me you’re tired of seeing my face?” Jack retorted, laughed spilling past her lips at his question.
“No. I just figured you’d want to be spending some time with other people that you claim to be friends with. It isn’t fair to you to have to dedicate all of your time to being with me because I suck at will power.”
“You know I’d do anything to help you. And you need my help. So here I am, sitting with you on lounge chairs, with beers, on my back porch, having this petty discussion rather than contemplating the meaning of life.” Jack rattled off, a smile forming on Delaney’s face.
“Oh so you want to contemplate the meaning of life huh?” Delaney asked, smirk present, and eyebrows raised.
“I already know the meaning of my life. It’s to make music and party.” Jack said affirmatively, and Delaney just snorted in response. “Are you ready to party tonight?” Jack asked, instantly causing Delaney’s smile to fall and her nose to scrunch up.
“No.”
“Oh come on Laney!” Jack responded, rolling his eyes. “You can’t always be upset about our going away parties.”
“Sure I can. My life becomes significantly more dull when you all leave.” She said, and Jack just laughed at her.
“You know you have an open invitation to come with us.” Jack replied, and the brunette’s nose scrunched up again as she quickly shook her head no. “Why not? You have the ability to work from home, and you could easily work while on the road!”
“Aside from the fact that I would have to work on a cramped tour bus where my work files may end up damaged or missing, I’d also be stuck on a cramped tour bus with several guys who hardly clean up after themselves at home where they get yelled at for it often. I am not delusional enough to believe that you all keep that bus clean regularly.” Her pointed look had Jack rolling his eyes. “Aside from all that, joining on your tour would put me in close quarters with Alex 24/7 for almost 3 months.”
“Ok. That’s fair. But you should consider coming to visit. I mean, we both know you’re going to miss me while we’re gone. You can’t live without me.” Delaney laughed at Jack’s dramatics.
“Of course I’ll miss you, but come on! I can’t live without you? You’re getting more and more dramatic in your old age” She teased, laughing as Jack’s mouth dropped open, clutching his chest in feigned hurt.
“I’m only 6 months older than you! So rude! Why am I still friends with you?” He asked and Delaney shrugged, grabbing her beer and finishing it off before standing up.
“I’m really not sure, especially since I’m about to go grab what I’m pretty sure is your last beer.” She said with a laugh.
“Just wait until tonight. I’m going to steal every drink that ends up in your hand!” Jack called to her as she entered his house, only hearing laughter in return.
It wasn’t until later that night, at Zack’s house where the party was being hosted, that Delaney learned that Jack was going to be keeping his word.
“That son of a bitch” She muttered, realizing that Jack had managed to steal yet another drink from her. It was the fourth drink she had lost that night, and she was more sober than she wanted to be. While it was a party, it was a goodbye party to see her friends off for the next 3ish months, and she really didn’t want to be sober for such a sad occasion.
“LANEY” She closed her eyes upon hearing her name being called from behind her. She had been doing so well at avoiding him, that it was almost infuriating that now of all times, right before she would get a forced break from him, he would show up. She turned towards him, giving a small half hearted smile as he walked up to her, the redhead from a month ago standing next to him, his arm draped around her shoulders.
“Hey Alex.” She said.
“Hey! I wanted to introduce you to Riley! Riley, this is Laney, one of our best friends.” Delaney resisted the urge to roll her eyes, keeping her small smile on her face.
“It’s nice to meet you Riley” She replied, giving a small wave to the red head.
“You too. Alex talks about you a lot!” Riley said, and she shot a quick glance away from the red head to look at Alex, unsure why he would bring her up in any conversation. “He said you could maybe give me some advice on how to deal with them being gone, because you got used to it when you used to date Jack and you’ve been friends will all of them for years, dealing with them coming and going.”
Delaney nodded, wondering why in the world this woman was told so much by Alex. She wondered if Alex had been gutsy enough to mention that he used to sleep with her until she cut him off. She doubted it though.
“Yea, I’ve known the guys for almost 8 years, so I’ve seen them come and go a lot.” She nodded in agreement. “You just have to keep busy.” She said honestly, because she knew that’s all that really worked for herself, keeping busy to distract herself from noticing how quiet everything was when they were gone.
“Hey, you’re not drinking tonight?” Alex asked, noticing her empty hand, as he took a sip of his own beer.
“I’ve been trying to.” She said, causing the two to look at her curiously. “I took the last beer at Jack’s house today and he swore he was going to steal all of my drinks. I thought he’d forget, but he’s been persistent tonight. I’ve lost 4 drinks.” She explained, and the redhead laugh, while Alex gave her a look of confusion.
“Hey. I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” Riley said to Alex, leaning up to kiss him before walking away, leaving the two former lovers alone.
“She seems nice. Dating or stringing her along?” Delaney asked casually, Alex narrowing his eyes.
“She knows we’re just having fun.” Alex said, and Delaney rolled her eyes. “She does. I told her I’m not looking for anything more than something casual.”
“Sure she does. She also probably thinks that she can change you. You’re going to end up hurting her. Why bother helping her deal with you being gone when you could do the half way decent thing and end things before you leave. At least then she wouldn’t wait around for 3 months” Delaney bit back. It seemed like anytime that she was near Alex anymore, she either had the desire to kiss him, or bite his head off. She elected to give in to the latter feeling.
Alex chose to ignore her statement, opting to change the subject entirely. “You were with Jack again today huh? You two have been spending a lot more time together for the last month.”
“Jack’s my best friend. Of course I’ve been spending time with him. You guys are leaving tomorrow afternoon.” She said. “Or have you forgotten that I’ve been friends with him for almost 8 years?”
“Are you two fucking Del?” He asked, and she just rolled her eyes at him. And there was that nickname once again. She could just slap his arrogant, ridiculous face.
“It’s none of your business who I’m screwing Alex. You aren’t my keeper.” She hissed at him,, electing to stop talking as Riley returned. “It was nice meeting you Riley, but I’m gonna go see if I can find Jack and maybe commandeer one of my drinks back.” She said before walking away.
“I get three months away from him. Thank the lord.” She muttered to herself. Three months was just what she needed. Three months completely free of Alex.