Backing up to just after Bryce fired Simon....
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Erin
Bryce is once again my hero. I'm not sure the reason that he fired him; I'm just glad he's gone. Or... going.
Simon shoots me a quick glare before striding past me. If I'm not mistaken, he mutters 'slut' under his breath. I work hard at keeping a straight face and not even showing that I heard him.
Bryce tells Marie he'll help her close up. Jesse and I do what we can to help, each of us wanting Bryce and Marie off work as soon as possible.
Finally, we're all done, and I have a seat again. I watch as Jesse talks to Marie, and it's just like something I would write. He's so cute as long as he's not hitting on me. I just want to walk up to Marie and shake her saying 'can't you see he's crazy about you?!' On the other hand, I can understand her trepidation.
Bryce leans over my shoulder and says low in my ear, "Please stay at my house tonight." His breath on my ear and the way he says it instantly turns me on. Jesse may be cute, but Bryce is sex on legs.
"I was planning on it," I answer, turning my head away from the budding romance right in front of me.
"I wasn't sure. It's been another one of those days," he says a little sadly and lightly runs his hand up my arm, making goosebumps pop up all over me.
Jesse and Marie leave together, and I have to resist the urge to jump up and down and giggle as I stand up out of my chair.
I watch them as they head down the side stairs and around the back side of the fence. Good luck, Jesse.
"I hope he can convince -" I start to say, but I get startled as Bryce pulls me back forcefully.
Holding my arm, he spins around me and kisses me like he's demanding my attention. His very short beard scratches my chin and around my lips as he holds me tight up against him. I feel like he's begging for some sort of reassurance that I'm not mad at him anymore, that I love him, that even though I spent the better part of the afternoon with Jesse that it was only on a friendly level. Yeah, I think I'm guessing right about the Jesse thing. Can't you see he just walked off with Marie?
I trail a clawed hand down his back, and I'm sure the sensation makes it through the thin material of the shirt because he groans appreciatively. Then I wrap an arm around his waist and press myself, hard, up against him. If the man needs reassuring, then dammit, that's what he's going to get.
It's time to stop being so competitive with your best friend.
Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong.
"Let's go home," Bryce says quietly after he pulls back.
"Okay," I answer simply, not wanting to get into the 'home' discussion at the moment.
Once we get back to his place, he pulls me off to the beach side of the house and surprises me with a kiss. I'm amazed I got surprised. I should've expected something like this.
"Hey," he says all of a sudden, "there's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. Starts at about two, they said, so we've got a little time before."
"I don't remember hearing anything about that."
"Okay, maybe I messed up what night it was. I just don't want to go inside yet."
"That's all you had to say."
We sit down sort of on his sidewalk and the grass. I start to wonder if the whole 'stargazing' thing was a ruse because of what he says next:
"Also, this is a little more neutral ground. Okay, not much but at least it's not inside which I wonder if that would make a difference."
I close my eyes and wonder to what he's building. Whatever it is, he's a little nervous, and that makes me more nervous.
"When we were talking outside of Jesse's store today..." His voice trails off.
"Yes?" I prod.
"You said 'that's not my home.' I was... surprised at how you said it, but, obviously, that wasn't the big issue at the time."
I squirm. I don't want to talk about this right now.
He keeps going. "I realize this isn't your home. It just came out of me like that because... because it feels more like home if you're here." I take a deep breath, and he continues, "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's too soon, and that's okay because I know you're right."
"Too soon for what?" I ask, wanting him to clarify. I have a damn good feeling what he means, but I want to hear it.
"For you to move in with me." I guess he doesn't notice how I've just let out all the air in my lungs. He continues, "I won't lie and say the thought hasn't occurred to me, especially after these past few days with you here."
I lift up one of my hands and hit the ground below me to make sure it's still there. If that's occurred to him, what else has he thought about?
"I mean, these past few days have been crazy, but it's crazy how the bad parts are all gone with the simple thought that you're here," he adds quietly.
He gets quiet, and I can feel him watching me.
"I'm not trying to scare you, Erin, but it looks like that's what I'm doing." He pauses for another second before he says, "I just like including you in my mental picture of home."
I look up at the stars to hopefully find an escape from the intense feeling coming off Bryce right now. I can't tell if Bryce looks up at the stars too or if he's looking at me instead.
"I'm going to miss you when you go back to living at your house," he says sorrowfully, and it breaks my heart.
"But it's not like I'm really leaving. I'll just be over there." I jerk my thumb back behind me, pointing in the direction of my house, before putting my hand back on the ground that still hasn't left me.
We're both quiet as a breeze picks up for a second, causing the branches in the trees above us to sway back and forth. The sound is soothing, and I close my eyes so that I can focus on only the sound of the waves and the wind with the added sounds of our calm breathing. I know Bryce isn't done with his serious discussion, and I'm making the most of this quiet interlude.
"You'll still spend the night sometimes, right?" I hear Bryce ask me from what sounds like far away. It pulls me back to the present moment and location as I open my eyes.
All of a sudden, I look up. "Look! I see one! A shooting star!" It burns out quickly. "Did you see it?"
I hear a smile in his voice as he answers, "No. I'm afraid I wasn't looking."
I put my hand down, a little disappointed.
"You get to make a wish, you know," he says quietly, and I can't read his tone.
I wish that Bryce would be okay with the slower pace I want to take, I think quickly. Aloud, I say, "Okay."
"What are you going to wish for?" he asks.
"I already did it, and I'm not supposed to tell you anyway, silly," I say and nudge him playfully with my shoulder.
I see his head jerk to the side real fast as he says, "There! I saw one."
"I saw it too." I say encouragingly. "But this one can be your wish."
He gets quiet for about five seconds before he turns to me and asks, "So, I'm not supposed to tell you, huh?"
All of a sudden, I really want to know what he wished for... even if it means ending with a preposition.
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," he mumbles quietly to me like he's letting me in on some big secret.
Even though my curiosity is driving me crazy, I reply, "No, then it won't come true."
"Who says?" he asks, grinning in the moonlight.
"Everybody," I answer, shrugging.
"Well, what if they're wrong? What if they got it backwards and the only way to have a wish come true is to tell someone about the wish? What if by doing that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or something?"
"I don't want to take that risk," I say evasively.
"Don't you want to know what I wished for?" he asks.
"Yes, but I also don't want you to tell me."
"Because you want it to come true?"
"Maybe. It depends on what it is. I mean, if you'd wished for a meteor to fall out of the sky and land on us, I hope it doesn't come true."
"That would suck if it was a big meteor," he says and laughs a little. "That wasn't it, by the way."
"I assumed."
"Maybe you can guess it," he prompts.
I'm just about ready to get up and head inside because now I'm afraid I can easily guess what his wish was, and although the thought of any of that makes me happy, I don't know the time scale he has in mind. I decide to change the subject.
"Thank you for firing the slimeball."
"You don't want to hear my wish?" he asks obstinately.
"No."
"Because you want it to come true."
"Maybe. Are you worried if he'll take you to court?" I ask, maintaining the new subject.
He sighs. "He might, but trust me, Desmond is bloodthirsty. Besides, if I can get Bernadette to tell me what happened then maybe we could use her against him. I wish she'd told me." He adds the last sentence much quieter than the rest.
"Maybe sic Jesse on her," I say with a small giggle, remembering how she'd failed in her attempt to ask him out.
"Normally, that could work, but I think Jesse is hopelessly distracted."
"Hopelessly?"
"Yeah," he says absentmindedly. "A permanent victim of the 'goo-goo' eyes."
I stay quiet for half a beat before I crack up laughing.
I see Bryce smile again before he says, "Honestly, I had no idea my little plan would work so good."
"Your little plan?" I can't help but ask. ...work so well, I mentally correct him.
"Yes," he answers. "A distraction."
"You didn't have to do that," I say, guessing at what he means.
"Yes I did. I know how that man can brood."
"It probably would've happened without your help anyway."
"True, but I wasn't taking any chances," he says definitively. "I mean, it was just a suggestion."
"That was mean, Bryce. That was a terrible way to welcome her to the island. If someone had done something like that to me a few weeks ago, I would've run off crying and hid in my house for weeks."
"And I had a good feeling she wouldn't do that."
"It was still mean."
He sighs and looks over at me in the dark. We hear the sound of a door, probably Jesse's front door, being carried over towards us in the breeze. Then it closes again. I don't hear Martha start up.
"What's done is done, and I'd say she took it in stride. She's tough. Mostly." He gets quiet and then adds, "And I apologized." He lets out a huff. "I can't do anything right, can I?"
I look down at my feet as I think about a lot of stuff. "I'm sorry I'm getting on your case a lot lately, and sure you've done stuff right. For one, you fired that creep."
"Yeah, finally. I realize now I should've done that years ago," he says like he's inwardly berating himself.
"What finally made it happen?" I ask.
He scratches his chin a little as he tells me, "Well, I was going to go over there to break up the fight that was starting, but then when I heard him taunt Jesse by saying 'jealous?', I wanted to hit him." He lets out a small laugh. "Apparently Jesse did too, but Marie stopped him."
"Yeah, that's when I turned around."
"Him asking Jesse if he was jealous pretty much gave me no doubt he did what he did and meant it just like Jesse told me. Then, he let it slip that he'd done the same thing, more successfully, with Bernadette." He lets out a sigh and gets quiet for a little while.
He speaks up again, "It's a wonder she didn't sue me."
He quickly points to the sky. "Look! There's another one."
"I'm going to miss you when you go back to living at your house," he says sorrowfully, and it breaks my heart.
"But it's not like I'm really leaving. I'll just be over there." I jerk my thumb back behind me, pointing in the direction of my house, before putting my hand back on the ground that still hasn't left me.
We're both quiet as a breeze picks up for a second, causing the branches in the trees above us to sway back and forth. The sound is soothing, and I close my eyes so that I can focus on only the sound of the waves and the wind with the added sounds of our calm breathing. I know Bryce isn't done with his serious discussion, and I'm making the most of this quiet interlude.
"You'll still spend the night sometimes, right?" I hear Bryce ask me from what sounds like far away. It pulls me back to the present moment and location as I open my eyes.
I hear a smile in his voice as he answers, "No. I'm afraid I wasn't looking."
I put my hand down, a little disappointed.
"You get to make a wish, you know," he says quietly, and I can't read his tone.
I wish that Bryce would be okay with the slower pace I want to take, I think quickly. Aloud, I say, "Okay."
"What are you going to wish for?" he asks.
"I already did it, and I'm not supposed to tell you anyway, silly," I say and nudge him playfully with my shoulder.
"I saw it too." I say encouragingly. "But this one can be your wish."
He gets quiet for about five seconds before he turns to me and asks, "So, I'm not supposed to tell you, huh?"
All of a sudden, I really want to know what he wished for... even if it means ending with a preposition.
Even though my curiosity is driving me crazy, I reply, "No, then it won't come true."
"Who says?" he asks, grinning in the moonlight.
"Everybody," I answer, shrugging.
"Well, what if they're wrong? What if they got it backwards and the only way to have a wish come true is to tell someone about the wish? What if by doing that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or something?"
"I don't want to take that risk," I say evasively.
"Don't you want to know what I wished for?" he asks.
"Yes, but I also don't want you to tell me."
"Because you want it to come true?"
"Maybe. It depends on what it is. I mean, if you'd wished for a meteor to fall out of the sky and land on us, I hope it doesn't come true."
"That would suck if it was a big meteor," he says and laughs a little. "That wasn't it, by the way."
"I assumed."
"Maybe you can guess it," he prompts.
I'm just about ready to get up and head inside because now I'm afraid I can easily guess what his wish was, and although the thought of any of that makes me happy, I don't know the time scale he has in mind. I decide to change the subject.
"Thank you for firing the slimeball."
"You don't want to hear my wish?" he asks obstinately.
"No."
"Because you want it to come true."
"Maybe. Are you worried if he'll take you to court?" I ask, maintaining the new subject.
He sighs. "He might, but trust me, Desmond is bloodthirsty. Besides, if I can get Bernadette to tell me what happened then maybe we could use her against him. I wish she'd told me." He adds the last sentence much quieter than the rest.
"Maybe sic Jesse on her," I say with a small giggle, remembering how she'd failed in her attempt to ask him out.
"Normally, that could work, but I think Jesse is hopelessly distracted."
"Hopelessly?"
I stay quiet for half a beat before I crack up laughing.
I see Bryce smile again before he says, "Honestly, I had no idea my little plan would work so good."
"Your little plan?" I can't help but ask. ...work so well, I mentally correct him.
"Yes," he answers. "A distraction."
"You didn't have to do that," I say, guessing at what he means.
"Yes I did. I know how that man can brood."
"It probably would've happened without your help anyway."
"True, but I wasn't taking any chances," he says definitively. "I mean, it was just a suggestion."
"That was mean, Bryce. That was a terrible way to welcome her to the island. If someone had done something like that to me a few weeks ago, I would've run off crying and hid in my house for weeks."
"And I had a good feeling she wouldn't do that."
"It was still mean."
He sighs and looks over at me in the dark. We hear the sound of a door, probably Jesse's front door, being carried over towards us in the breeze. Then it closes again. I don't hear Martha start up.
"What's done is done, and I'd say she took it in stride. She's tough. Mostly." He gets quiet and then adds, "And I apologized." He lets out a huff. "I can't do anything right, can I?"
I look down at my feet as I think about a lot of stuff. "I'm sorry I'm getting on your case a lot lately, and sure you've done stuff right. For one, you fired that creep."
"Yeah, finally. I realize now I should've done that years ago," he says like he's inwardly berating himself.
"What finally made it happen?" I ask.
He scratches his chin a little as he tells me, "Well, I was going to go over there to break up the fight that was starting, but then when I heard him taunt Jesse by saying 'jealous?', I wanted to hit him." He lets out a small laugh. "Apparently Jesse did too, but Marie stopped him."
"Yeah, that's when I turned around."
"Him asking Jesse if he was jealous pretty much gave me no doubt he did what he did and meant it just like Jesse told me. Then, he let it slip that he'd done the same thing, more successfully, with Bernadette." He lets out a sigh and gets quiet for a little while.
He speaks up again, "It's a wonder she didn't sue me."
I'd forgotten all about the meteor shower ...or the not meteor shower. After the streak burns itself out, I lean back on Bryce's shoulder. He turns his head and kisses my hair.
"Sleepy?" he asks.
"Mhm," I answer. Then I somewhat playfully add, "But not too much."
"You know," he says, "Adele is at Pam's." He stands up and offers me a hand up. "You can be as loud as you want." Then I see him grin to my surprised expression before he kisses me and practically drags me into the house.
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All right, so I'm still a sucker for the watch the stars or whatever it's called interaction.
"You know," he says, "Adele is at Pam's." He stands up and offers me a hand up. "You can be as loud as you want." Then I see him grin to my surprised expression before he kisses me and practically drags me into the house.
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All right, so I'm still a sucker for the watch the stars or whatever it's called interaction.
