Sound Effects and Overdramatics

The clack of me breaking the triangle rang through the bar. I pulled the cigarette from my mouth and exhaled a large stream of smoke, ready to take another shot. Johnny bumped into me and I jerked the stick, causing me to miss the ball entirely, the cue ball rolling around the table slowly.

"Damn it, Christ." I shouted. He laughed and guzzled his beer. I just shook my head and stepped out of the way for Zack to take his turn.

We were playing doubles, Me and Matt against Zack and Johnny, and they were up by two games to our one.

I went up to the bar and ordered another round, trying to get lost in the noise of the Saturday night crowd. None of the faces I saw were the ones I was looking for, but at this point, it was a useless effort.

Beth still hadn't moved in, despite the fact that she said she would. Jason had been MIA for over a week. No one had heard from him. No one knew where to find him. Monica had either given up or was just refusing to share the information she had. Given how well she had kept tabs on her kids, I was banking on her knowing exactly where he was and just not caring.

Everyone was worried, but no one was going through a whole lot of effort to try and find him. He was on his own.

I hadn't seen Beth since Wednesday when she met me at the studio for lunch. She was excited to be starting her new job, as a photographer at the agency Christian worked for. He'd pulled some strings and got her a pretty good gig. I was excited for her.

I was also distant, which was why she hadn't moved in.

After finding out that she had lost the baby, I wasn't sure how to act around her. I still loved her, but knowing she couldn't have kids and actually experiencing it had completely thrown me off course. She seemed totally fine, moving on as if it had never happened. I was struggling and she didn't seem to notice, or care.

I could barely bring myself to kiss her. We hadn't had sex since Vegas, which was a new record, except for when she was on another fucking continent. But ten miles away shouldn't have been a problem. She didn't wanna talk about it though, so I didn't bring it up. I wasn't sure who to talk to about it.

"Here ya go." The bartender told me, sliding a full tray across the bar. I picked it up and walked back over to where the guys were waiting. They all clamored for the beer, putting the game on pause.

I drank mine down, ready for some shots. If I was going to spend my weekend alone, I didn't want to remember it. All at once, all the guys shut up and went still.

"What?" I asked, pulling the glass away. When I went to put it down, I stumbled, snacking into the corner of the pool table. Normally a move that would earn me a round of teasing.

"You okay there, babe?" Beth asked from behind me, in a not happy tone. I turned around and she was staring at me with lightning in her eyes.

Clearly upset, but why?

"I'm good. What...what are you doing here?" In a split second, I realized how drunk I was.

"You look gorgeous." I added, thinking it would save me.

Her hair was down, full of extra curls, resting on her almost bare shoulders. She wore a shimmery purple top that came above her belly button, showing off her piercings. What she wore over it could hardly be called a jacket. It was a sheer material in a lighter purple, and buttoned once under her breasts. Her black jeans were skin tight and gave way to strappy silver heels.

She didn't usually get all dressed up just to come to the bar.

"You forgot." She pointed out, shaking her head.

"Uh," I looked over my shoulder. Johnny and Matt instantly tore their eyes away, pretending to mock Zack's sudden interest in taking his turn.

She didn't wait for me to figure it out. She shook her head again and turned to leave. It took me a bit longer than it should have to make it through the crowd and follow after her.

"Beth," I called as she slipped through the door. "Beth, wait." She stopped on the sidewalk and looked at me, unimpressed with the way I almost rolled out the door to catch up.

"What day is it, Brian?"

"Saturday, why?"

"Saturday. Right. And the date?"

"Um," I took a breath, trying to keep myself steady. In my state, I couldn't remember making plans with her for tonight, and she hadn't said anything about it in any of our short conversations.

"It's the thirteenth, Brian. March thirteenth." She said it matter-of-factly, as if I should have known what it meant.

Slowly, it came to me. "Shit. It's your-"

"Birthday, yeah. You said we'd go to dinner and back to the house for dessert. I figured maybe you'd have everybody waiting at the house for a small party or something."

"Beth, I'm sorry." I admitted. She looked completely devastated now, hurt more than pissed. "I don't have a good reason for forgetting. I'm not gonna make something up. I'm just..."

"Sorry, yeah. You said that. When you didn't pick me up from Ali's, I figured you were caught up at the house. I drove over there. Completely dark. Not at the studio. Val said that you'd all come here."

I reached for her but she pulled away. "You know, it's not like I expected a whole lot, but I guess it's too much to ask for my boyfriend to remember my birthday."

"And I guess it's too much to ask my girlfriend to have some fucking empathy and care enough to realize how bad I'm hurting over the fact that I got you pregnant and caused us both a fuck ton of pain and that I'm still having trouble coping." I'd spat the words out before I could stop them. She froze, staring at me as if she were finally seeing me for the first time in almost two weeks.

Drunk and angry was never a good combination. I didn't want to have this fight on the street. I lit a cigarette and tried to calm down. "You lost the baby, and then Jason goes missing, and you're just fucking pushing along like none of it matters to you. Like it never did. Like I don't. So, I'm sorry that I forgot your birthday, and I'm sorry that I'm drunk as shit, but nothing can be done about that right now. If you wanna sit down and hash out all our bullshit, *again*, we can go to the house. If you want to wait until I'm sober, fine, but don't you dare try and make this my fucking fault."

"You're right." She admitted. "You're absolutely right. I should have been there for you. We should have gone through it together. All of it. I was hoping tonight would help us get through that barrier. Go back inside and enjoy the rest of your night. I'll see you at home."

"Home?" I asked, confused.

She sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, Brian, home. It was my gift to you. Ali and Christian were supposed to move my stuff in while we were at dinner."

I wasn't sure how to react to the news. My head was already spinning. I just wanted to sit down. I was still angry, still full of adrenaline, thinking she would fight back. No way did it solve the problem at hand. It didn't add to the problem, and maybe it would help things a little, but our biggest problem, as always, was communication.

I sighed and dragged my hand down my face, trying to clear the fog. "Lemme just tell them bye real quick and we can go back together." I mumbled. She nodded and I left to drag my ass back through the crowd.

"You out?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah."

"Everything okay?"

"Shit, I don't know. We'll see tomorrow. Ruby's, right?"

"Yeah. Later."

"Later."

I clapped each one of them on the back. As I walked back out, I wondered how much longer they were gonna have to put up with mine and Beth's drama. There had to be a point where enough was enough, where things stopped being so hard and we were finally able to just live our lives and enjoy being together.

I kept my eye out for it, hoping it was getting closer every day.

Beth had waited against the wall, smoking a cigarette. I took her hand and linked our fingers together. I wasn't sober enough to drive, and I knew she wouldn't be able to walk in her heels, so she led the way to her car.

I knew by the way she drove, she was still pissed.

Inside the house, she threw her purse down and her thin jacket on top of it. She braced herself against the wall to take off her shoes, all without saying a word.

Weary, I collapsed onto the couch, waiting for her to sit next to me. She didn't. She lit a cigarette and walked to the kitchen, opening and slamming doors and dishes loudly. I waited to hear something sizzling in a pan before going in after her.

Taking my chances, I put my hands on her hips and kissed her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Making dinner."

She pushed chicken around the pan with one hand and sprinkled salt with the other, her whole body tense.

I moved my hands around to place them on her stomach and put my lips on the side of her neck, giving her a lingering kiss. "I can order. You shouldn't have to cook."

"It'll take longer." Her voice was softer, but still firm. I blew hot air out of my nose as I kissed behind her ear and felt the slightest tremor in her body. My hands moved up, under her shirt, and I was mildly surprised to find skin instead of any kind of bra.

I stopped my progress, my own body shaking. I'd missed this, missed her. Her closeness, the way she made me feel anytime I had her body against mine. I had to be careful.

She reached forward to shut the burner off and pushed the pan aside to keep it from burning. Briefly, I wondered if she was going to push away from me, but she turned in my arms and kissed me.

In my surprise, I moved back a couple steps. I pushed her shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the floor. With my tongue in her mouth, I unfastened her pants and gave them a tug. They wouldn't budge.

I did the only thing I could and lifted her up onto the counter, giving a few fierce yanks before she was finally free of them.

No panties either.

I wanted to explore every inch of her body and take my time doing it. The longing I felt for her surprised me. I'd seen her before, been inside her, knew every inch of her body, and I'd been without her, but this vast distance between us was something I never wanted, and it went way beyond just the physical.

And we had both put it there.

The first step in closing the distance, as always, was physical connection, because if we had that closeness, everything else was easier.

Beth locked her legs around my waist and lifted my shirt over my head before going for my neck, not taking time to be gentle. She bit into my skin and began sucking. I worked my belt open and pants open and she pushed them down, her hand rubbing against my cock.

I groaned. Impatient, I lifted her off the counter and pushed myself inside her, keeping her locked around me. Her nails bit into my shoulders and it just made me move harder.

I turned and set her on the breakfast bar. She reached behind herself and swept everything off the surface. I wasn't worried about what clattered to the floor as I climbed up and laid her underneath me, not giving her a chance to adjust as I thrust inside her again.

Just this. Just her. It was everything I needed.