Sound Effects and Overdramatics

Down in the casino, I settled at a blackjack table. I wasn't really playing to win, or lose. I just wanted the distraction. I ordered shots from a passing waitress and put enough money down to keep me afloat.

The couple we met earlier, Dean and Courtney, approached me an hour later. I tapped out of the game, breaking just above even, and grabbed a table.

"Where's your girl?"

I tapped out a cigarette and offered my next round of shots to them, asking for a beer instead. "I did something stupid. She's upstairs getting some space."

"What happened? You were, uh, really friendly in the elevator."

I was just drunk enough to tell them. "I proposed."

"She say no?"

I shook my head. "She didn't say anything."

"That's rough, man. I'm sorry."

I shrugged. The waitress dropped off another beer and a burger for me.

"I didn't order."

"I know a broken heart when I see one. Don't go back up to your girl drunk. You'll regret it."

She had a point.

"You guys want anything?" I asked them.

They ordered a couple more burgers.

"How long have you two been together?" Courtney asked me. I sighed.

"Um,"

Fuck. How long had we been together? Three months? It wasn't like our relationship was any kind of normal.

For that matter, I'd been fucking her brother for the same amount of time. So what the hell did it mean?

"Two years, on and off." I muttered, tipping the bottle back. I swallowed with a grimace and picked at my fries.

I had no plans to propose on this trip. I bought the ring with no set plans at all. It was a someday ring. When things calmed down, when her mother quit interfering, when Jason got his shit together, but I realized that it was always going to be this way. No amount of waiting or talking would make it go away.

We were both worried about the wrong things. Getting married wouldn't fix anything or solve all of our problems, but I wanted her by my side. I knew she wasn't ready to get married again. Part of me thought she'd never be ready. I didn't want to push her too far. I'd lose her again.

"Yikes." Dean said with a grimace. He kept his arm along the back of Courtney's chair. They were so blissfully young and in love.

Like Matt and Val had been, like Laurel and Finn must have been.

I shut down the thought with the rest of my beer.

No wonder she had been so panicked.

"What are you gonna do?" Courtney asked. I shrugged and choked down some of My burger.

A few minutes later, arms snaked around my shoulders. She bent down and whispered in my ear.

"Need some company?"

I so wasn't in the mood. Courtney looked away and dean tilted his head in disbelief. I pushed my chair out, shrugging her away.

"I'm good." I told the working girl. "For your trouble." I handed her a hundred and left more money on the table for the waitress before stumbling away.

"Beth," I half-whispered when I got to the room. I followed the sound of retching and knelt down on the bathroom floor as she finished throwing up.

She reached for my hand and squeezed as she pulled herself away from the toilet.

We didn't speak as we stood. I waited for her to rinse her mouth and followed her to the bed.

I stripped down to my boxers, unsure of what to say, of how to bridge the gap. She pulled back the blankets on the other side and got into the bed. I got in beside her and put my arm around her.

"I love you." She finally mumbled.

I moved to kiss her, wrapping my arms around her whole body and rolling her under me. She locked her arms and legs around me, pushing her body as close against mine as she could.

It was another hour before we actually went to sleep.

**********

I woke up to a ringing phone. They’d been pretty silent since we landed, so much that it was actually worrying that no one back home had called with news or drama. Beth wasn’t in the bed, but as I scrambled around for the phone, I heard the shower going.

“Yeah,” I croaked out after lighting the first cigarette of the day.

“We got a problem.” Matt grunted, clearly not happy about something.

“Whose phone did you call?”

“Yours.”

“Pussy.”

“Your girlfriend scares me. Can you blame me?”

“Couple weeks ago you were picking fights with her and now she scares you?”

“When she finds out that her brother disappeared, again, yeah, I’m gonna be scared of her.”

“Come on dude. Seriously?”

“Val went to check on him and he was gone. He used his super drugged up ninja skills and pulled a Rapunzel.”

“He climbed out the window?”

“Yep. And he left his phone here.”

I sucked sharply on my cigarette, going over every way I could skin Jason and keep him alive inside my head. “Call the hospital, call his friend Luce, his dealer, Monica. Just...find him. Okay? Keep me posted.”

“Aye aye captain.”

I hung up and put the phone on the nightstand. I didn’t want to tell Beth. I didn’t want to pop her bubble and ruin our trip. If I told her, she’d want to catch the next flight out to go track him down herself. I didn’t care that she hadn't answered my question, but I didn’t want to cut our trip short because Jason couldn’t keep himself in check.

I knew it would be worse if I didn’t tell her and she found out later though, and we made a deal.

As a courtesy, I knocked on the bathroom door before going in. I leaned against the double sink and took a long drag before putting it out and opening the shower door.

“You hungry?”

“I just need some coffee. What time is it?”

I stepped in with her and took the washcloth she offered me. “Eight thirty.”

While she rinsed herself off, I began sudsing up, trying not to get distracted by the way she was arching her back and the fact that her nipples were at the perfect angle for me to dip down and suck on.

“Matt called.”

“Everything okay?”

“They’re working on it.” I set the washcloth aside and reached for her hands. She let me take them but she wasn’t happy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Jason seems to have left Matt’s. He’s looking for him. He’ll call.”

I expected an argument. Her whole life, all she’s done is try and put her brother first. His safety meant more to her than her own did. I wasn’t going to argue with her if she asked to go back home; I would have just been disappointed.

Instead, she surprised me.

“He’s probably at the hospital, or with Monica.”

“Yeah...probably.” I agreed, too stunned to do anything but. I pulled her closer and cupped my hands around her ass, squeezing lightly.

“You’re insatiable.” She teased, but she leaned up to kiss me anyway, flicking her tongue over my bottom lip.

“What can I say? I’m in love.” I told her with a smile. She grinned and kissed me again, pushing her chest against mine.

Even with the playful banter, the air was still stiff between us. Adding in Jason's drama, I knew that any ease she had felt yesterday was gone.

Talking about it would only make her more tense. She needed time to process. I was going to give it to her.

Still, I took her hands in mine. "Are we okay?"

She put her hand against my cheek and rubbed her thumb along my bottom lip before kissing me. "Of course we are." She promised.

I wanted to believe her, but even with the colored contacts, there was no hiding the look in her eyes.

She wanted to run.