Sad_Girl
Blue Crack Supplier
*Disclaimer: Although obviously inspired in part by people who exist in real life, this story is in no way meant to represent reality, past, present or future. The author has no personal experience or contact with the band or their friends and family. There are facts within this story which may be contrary to real life either because they were changed for artistic purposes or simply because the author had no knowledge of the truth on a particular subject; i.e.: dates and times. No offense is intended to anyone who inspired this work of fiction. It’s just a wandering thought which I found trapped in the maze of my imagination.
Babyface pt 3
Janet rolled over in her bed, feeling the first pulls of consciousness begin to tug her out of a deep, dreamless sleep. She smiled to herself as the memories of the night before began to return to her; memories of sweet, seductive kisses from a set of full lips. Long looks into a set of moody blue eyes, stolen touches from a set of surprisingly strong hands. She stretched her sleep heavy limbs and tried to draw in a deep breath. Suddenly she was aware of an all too familiar tightness in her chest; and with each attempt to draw breath her throat and chest only felt tighter.
Her toes and fingers tingled from lack of oxygen and panic began to set in. She fought to remain calm despite the urge to fight as if she were underwater and could see the surface. She sat on the corner of the bed and tried to drew in a series of slow moderate breaths, like the doctor had taught her at a young age, but it was as if someone were holding a hand over her mouth and nose. Her head was pounding along with her heart as she stumbled across the room to find her inhaler in the bathroom cabinet.
She slipped the opening of the small metal and plastic device into her mouth and pumped once, then twice. A mist of bitter tasting medicine flooded her mouth and she wheezed as she drew in a breath with all the strength she could muster. The next breath came a little easier, and the next easier yet. For a long moment she stood before the bathroom sink, her hands clutching the cool porcelain, her elbows locked as she leaned on it for support. She looked at herself in the mirror as her heart rate slowed to just above normal and she greedily filled her lungs with air.
She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the glass, relieved that the inhaler had been enough to stop the asthma this time. She hated going to the hospital. She’d been fighting with the disease since she was young, and had been told by more than one emergency room doctor that she needed to be more aware of her condition, to take more precautions. Maybe someday medicine would have an answer, a cure for her breathing problems. She refused to let any disease get in the way of her life, or to hold her back, while she waited for a someday which might never come. She took one more hit off the inhaler before returning it to the medicine cabinet and moving to get ready for her day as usual.
**********************************************************************
It was a surprisingly bright, sunny afternoon for mid October, and Janet was in an unusually pleasant mood. There was a lull in customers, leaving the store empty except for herself and Brian. Most of the usual tasks for the day were already done, and so Janet was choosing something new to listen to. Brian was behind the counter, cleaning out the clutter from underneath and complaining about the slow sales. Janet smiled as she gingerly placed a record on the turntable and lowered the needle to the track she wanted.
“I got chills, they're multiplyin', and I'm losin' control! Cause the power you're supplyin', it's electrifyin'!” John Travolta’s voice rang out. Olivia Newton-John followed up by singing “You better shape up! Cause I need a man, and my heart is set on you!” And Janet raised her hands above her head and wiggled her hips as she began to dance around the sales floor.
“What the bloody…?” Brian mumbled to himself as he forgot about his task and watched her dance, her blonde hair flying wildly as she let her feet carry her rhythmically between the racks of records. When she finally came to rest in front of the counter, where a customer would usually stand, her cheeks were flushed and she was slightly out of breath. She also nearly glowed with happiness. She beamed a smile at him and he shook his head at her as if she had completely lost any sense she had ever had.
“What has gotten into you, lass?” He asked, and she smiled even brighter as she shrugged and hurried back across the floor to replace the record. “Oh, right. The kid, he’s what got into you.” He muttered sarcastically. “I would’ve thought he’d be the one dancing, though.”
“For your information, Brian,. Not that it’s any of your business, he did no such thing. Just because I’m American doesn’t make me easy. I just happen to be in a good mood.” She shot back, not appreciating his assumptions. She wasn’t crazy about the way she could feel his eyes boring holes into her backside as she walked away from him either.
“Sure, right.” He replied dismissively. Janet selected an album by The Clash, starting with ‘Clash City Rockers’. She began to dance again and sing along as she fixed the drooping corner of a poster which was displayed in the front window. She continued in this way, tidying up little things she noticed but rarely had the time to fix, and did her best to ignore Brian’s leering. She barely noticed when the door opened and closed, although she did tone her dancing down slightly.
When the song ended, she heard the sound of someone clapping their hands together in applause. She turned and brushed her hair out of her face to see Adam leaning against the counter and smiling a toothy smile at her. She couldn’t help but return his cheeky grin, even though she was a little embarrassed. She hurried to turn the volume down slightly on the record player, brushing past Adam as she did.
“Hi. How are you today?” She asked politely.
“I’m well, thanks. I would ask you the same, but I can already tell you’re in a good mood. You’re a good dancer, by the way.” He informed her smoothly, his posh accent unlike that of anyone else she’d ever known.
“Pffft! Yeah right.” She said dismissively.
“No, you are.” He insisted. “And that’s a great song. You have good taste in music.” He added and she smiled at the compliment. “So, what did you think of the band the other night?” he asked, still leaning casually against the counter, his head tilted to the side slightly in a gesture of interest for what she had to say.
“You guys are great. I mean, you have a kind of raw energy. A lot of talent and clearly an enthusiasm for music.” She told him, standing directly across the counter from him as Brian finished what he’d been doing and disappeared back into his office.
“So, what are you doing tonight?” Adam asked, catching Janet off guard as several teenagers entered the store all at once. They spread out, laughing and goofing around as they made a mess of the magazines and the on sale records. She’d suspected at least one of them of shoplifting 45’s in the past.
“What?” She asked distractedly. “Oh, um, nothing really.” She replied.
“Well you are now. Let me take you out to dinner.” He said, and it took a moment for the words to register in her mind. She turned back to look at the young man, her green eyes wide with surprise.
“Oh. Uh… well, thanks. But I…” She started to try and tell him no gently.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked.
“Um, well. Not exactly.” She said, growing frustrated. “Hey! Don’t unroll the posters, it says on the side what they are!” She snapped at one of the teenagers, who in turn made a rude gesture at her, but returned the poster to the bin he had taken it from.
“Not exactly.” Adam repeated. “Ok, well, then there’s no harm in going out to eat with a friend. I’ll pick you up here? What time do you get off work?” He asked and Janet searched her brain for a graceful way out of this situation. She wasn’t about to call Larry her boyfriend; especially after one date. But it felt creepy to go out with one of his closest mates.
“Seven.” She heard Brian say as he stepped behind the counter with her. “She gets off work at seven.” He informed Adam. “Now, unless you were planning on buying something, can she get back to work?”
“Right. Of course. I’ll be here at seven.” Adam replied, smiling once more at Janet as he pushed away from the counter and strolled out the door in his casual, cool manner. She gritted her teeth and glared at Brian, who obviously knew damn well what he was doing. He smiled playfully at her, sending a cold chill down her spine, and she decided it was best not to say anything. He seemed to get off on her irritation, so she was going to refuse to play along.
*********************************************************************
“Hello, loverboy.” Bono greeted Larry with a grin as he arrived to rehearsal that afternoon. “How’d it go last night? Did you pull?”
“Wanker! I can’t believe you would even… it’s not like I come in here and ask you about Ali.” Larry replied sharply, glaring out from under his shaggy hair at his friend.
“That’s because she’s Ali.” Bono informed him with a laugh. “You know her.”
“Fuck off and die, I’m not gonna talk about this shite.” Larry retorted, withdrawing a set of drumsticks from his back pocket, indicating that they should get on with practicing.
“Wait, wait… L’il Lardence had a date? With a girl?” Adam asked, clenching a cigarette in one corner of his mouth as he spoke.
“Well, I think she was a girl.” Bono replied playfully. “It could’ve been Edge in a wig.” He added, wincing when Edge slapped him upside the back of his head.
“Leave him alone.” He said as he draped his guitar strap over his shoulder.
“You are so full of shit!” Larry complained, pointing a drumstick in Bono’s direction. “You know, she’s a nice girl, and she’s beautiful and if she doesn’t want to see me again I’m going to blame you. You’re the one who set everything arseways last night.”
“I set everything arseways?” Bono asked, feigning shock and horror at the thought.
“Fuck right you did. And you bloody well knew it. Lucky for you she realized I’m cool enough that it’s worth putting up with the likes of you to be with me.” He added, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth which made everyone else in the room have to chuckle.
“While we’re on the subject, I need to leave a bit early tonight. I have a date to meet at seven.” Adam said, his eyes narrowing as he drew deep on his cigarette, still gripping it in one corner of his mouth when he released the smoke out the other side.
“You’re kidding, right? We’re not going to have half a proper rehearsal before the gig this weekend if we keep this up.” Edge pointed out.
“I need to leave early, too.” Larry admitted. “I was supposed to be somewhere after school, but I was running late.”
“Well, what the fuck are we even doing here?” Edge grumbled.
“Hey, I could’ve just been late getting here, than Sparky over here would’ve left early, and we’d have gotten in no practice at all.” Larry pointed out.
“As compared to all the practice you’re getting in right now?” Paul McGuinness asked from the doorway of the small shed they used to rehearse.
“Point taken.” Adam granted, nodding in greeting at Paul, the band’s manager.
“Let’s do ‘Out of control’.” Bono suggested, and the boys forgot everything else as they dove head first into their music, as they always did.
***************************************************************
Janet was pacing the floor at six fifty five, wondering if she could simply lock the door and hide until Adam had come and gone. She knew she couldn’t be so rude, but she felt awful about the mix-up. In other circumstance, to make matters worse, she would’ve jumped at the offer of a date from Adam. He was cute, funny, eccentrically charming… everything she usually liked in a date. Now she was waiting to try and figure out how to tell him that while not leading him on.
She wasn’t interested in seeing anyone other than Larry. Normally she wouldn’t see anything wrong with dating two different guys, so long as they were just casual dates. The first few dates were rarely as intense as the one last night had been, after all. She would have drawn the line, however, at dating two boys who were friends with each other. That was certain to end in trouble, and she had enough trouble for her taste without making more of it.
She heard the bell clang as the door opened and turned to see Adam breeze casually into the store. He smiled at her, a sweet smile that made her grow anxious and uncomfortable. He had a handsome mouth, she realized, then scolded herself for the thought.
“Hi.” She greeted him with a sigh. “I’m afraid there was a misunderstanding.” She blurted out, and Adam frowned, his eyebrows drawing together in concern. “When Brian chased you out of here, I was trying to tell you that I couldn’t go out with you.” She said, the words tumbling out of her mouth now, refusing to be restrained.
“Oh.” Adam replied, blinking at her in surprise. “All right. Do you mean tonight? Or not at all?” He asked, letting the door drift closed behind him as he closed the distance between them. “I’d really like to get to know you better.” He told her, standing just a bit to close for propriety. Janet took a step back and looked up into his eyes.
“I’m sorry.” She said again. “I’ve just started seeing someone else… It’s not serious, but it wouldn’t be right for me to see you as well.” She explained and Adam smiled at her and shook his head.
“I don’t have a problem with that. Maybe this other guy wouldn’t mind you dating other people. If it’s not serious between you.” He told her, and she realized suddenly she was sweating slightly. She was backed up against a wall now, and Adam pressed the palm of one hand on the wall beside her and leaned on it casually. He was flirting with her blatantly, and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. She frowned at him, although her irritation was more with herself than him.
“The main problem is he’s a friend of yours.” She told him honestly and he frowned at her, his eyes moving back and forth quickly as he searched his mind for potential competition among his friends.
“Hey. What’s going on?” They heard Larry’s voice ask as he stepped inside, a rush of cool air entering the store with him.
“Oh, hell. You can’t be serious.” Adam said, looking up at Larry and then down at Janet with a smirk. Janet pursed her lips and nodded at him curtly. Adam chuckled heartily as he pushed away from the wall, leaving Janet her escape route. She hurried away from Adam, into the office where she collected her jacket and purse.
“This is the girl you went out with last night?” Adam asked Larry as soon as they were alone.
“Why is that funny?” Larry asked, his temper up now, aroused by the suspicious moment he’d stumbled into.
“I thought I had a date with her tonight, but she told me she was seeing someone else. I, uh… had no idea.” Adam said, still grinning at his younger friend. “Good going, man. Seriously, I never expected you and I would have the same taste in women.”
“You like anything female. It’s kind of hard to find a girl that isn’t your taste.” Larry replied.
“C’mon. She’s a party girl, not the type of girl you’re going to take home for Christmas dinner. I just expected you to find some quiet little church mouse who wouldn’t put out until you put a ring on her finger.” Adam explained.
“You’d better be careful what you’re saying about people, Adam. You don’t know her, or anything about her.” Larry warned, and Adam could tell from the tension in the young mans face that he was dead serious.
“You’re right. You’re right, I don’t know her. Look, I’m going to get out of here, since I’m obviously the odd man out. See you tomorrow, man.” Adam conceded, patting Larry on the shoulder as he walked past him and out the door.
“Ok, I need to lock up.” Janet was saying as she stepped out of the office, pulling the door shut behind herself and twisting the knob to make sure it was locked. She glanced around the room in search of Adam for a moment. “Did Adam leave?” She asked, and Larry nodded silently. “I’ll just lock up and I’m free for the night. Are you hungry?” she asked as she followed him out onto the street.
“A little.” He mumbled, obviously brooding over something.
“Look, that was not what it looked like.” She told him, leaning in closer to him, touching his cheek tenderly to make sure he was listening to her. He nodded again and Janet chewed nervously on her lower lip. “C’mon. I’ll make you some dinner.” She offered, turning and leading the way back to her apartment.
***********************************************************************
She was growing more and more uncomfortable by the moment, feeling his eyes on her, studying her. He obviously had some question, something he was pondering about her, but unless he asked, she had no way of knowing what that was.
“Hope you like Italian.” She said, trying to make light conversation. “I’m not much of a cook, but it’s pretty hard to screw up spaghetti.” She joked.
“That’s fine.” He replied, and finally, her patience was at an end.
“Look, Larry, I don’t know what bug crawled up your ass tonight, but I’m not going to feel guilty when I haven’t done anything wrong!” She told him hotly, turning to face him, a jar of marinara sauce in one hand and a dish towel in the other.
“What?”
“Why are you sulking?” she asked, her voice softening just a tiny bit. She started to try and uncap the jar, straining visibly and getting no results.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” He said, moving to take the jar from her and opening it with one twist.
“I loosened it up for you.” She teased, and he granted her with a shy smile.
“So, what happened with Adam. I mean, why did he think you guys were going out tonight?” Larry asked, leaning one hip against the cupboard as she poured the sauce into a pan on the stove.
“There were a bunch of kids in the store while he was there this afternoon, and I was trying to be friendly to him while keeping an eye on them. Next thing I know, he’s asking me what time I get off work, and Brian’s telling him to come back at seven.” She explained. “And tonight… he just thought I should consider going out with more than one guy.”
“He didn’t know you and I were together.” Larry summed up.
“Are we?” She asked, her green eyes twinkling as she looked into his. “We’ve only gone out once.”
“And yet you told him no.” Larry teased back, smirking as he realized the significance of her reluctance to date other people.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to go out with him.” She replied smartly.
“Maybe.” Larry agreed, although his tone made it clear that he didn’t believe it.
“Or, maybe, I didn’t want to go out with anyone else either.” She said, stepping in closer to him, her eyes heavy lidded and her voice softening. “Maybe someone with a sweet smile and a babyface has taken up too many of my thoughts.” She offered, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him.
“Maybe I’m just a one man kind of girl.” She told him on a breathy whisper as he leaned in close, his nose rubbing against hers playfully. He smiled gently at her, hearing exactly what he had hoped to hear. He brushed a whispery kiss over her mouth, followed closely by a deeper kiss which quickly intensified. Her hands slid up into his hair and his hands moved around behind her to cup her backside, pulling her even tighter against him and making them both moan in surprise at the intensity of desire they felt.
Suddenly there was a loud hissing and popping sound and Janet pulled away quickly as she realized the water was boiling over onto the flame. She hurried to lower the heat and slide the pasta into the pot, laughing as she did. She glanced over her shoulder at Larry who was still leaning there, watching her, smiling rather proudly at his ability to distract her so efficiently. He liked being here, with her. Like this. It was cozy, welcoming, and fun. His house seemed so cold and empty these days, he sometimes dreaded going home.
Babyface pt 3
Janet rolled over in her bed, feeling the first pulls of consciousness begin to tug her out of a deep, dreamless sleep. She smiled to herself as the memories of the night before began to return to her; memories of sweet, seductive kisses from a set of full lips. Long looks into a set of moody blue eyes, stolen touches from a set of surprisingly strong hands. She stretched her sleep heavy limbs and tried to draw in a deep breath. Suddenly she was aware of an all too familiar tightness in her chest; and with each attempt to draw breath her throat and chest only felt tighter.
Her toes and fingers tingled from lack of oxygen and panic began to set in. She fought to remain calm despite the urge to fight as if she were underwater and could see the surface. She sat on the corner of the bed and tried to drew in a series of slow moderate breaths, like the doctor had taught her at a young age, but it was as if someone were holding a hand over her mouth and nose. Her head was pounding along with her heart as she stumbled across the room to find her inhaler in the bathroom cabinet.
She slipped the opening of the small metal and plastic device into her mouth and pumped once, then twice. A mist of bitter tasting medicine flooded her mouth and she wheezed as she drew in a breath with all the strength she could muster. The next breath came a little easier, and the next easier yet. For a long moment she stood before the bathroom sink, her hands clutching the cool porcelain, her elbows locked as she leaned on it for support. She looked at herself in the mirror as her heart rate slowed to just above normal and she greedily filled her lungs with air.
She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the glass, relieved that the inhaler had been enough to stop the asthma this time. She hated going to the hospital. She’d been fighting with the disease since she was young, and had been told by more than one emergency room doctor that she needed to be more aware of her condition, to take more precautions. Maybe someday medicine would have an answer, a cure for her breathing problems. She refused to let any disease get in the way of her life, or to hold her back, while she waited for a someday which might never come. She took one more hit off the inhaler before returning it to the medicine cabinet and moving to get ready for her day as usual.
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It was a surprisingly bright, sunny afternoon for mid October, and Janet was in an unusually pleasant mood. There was a lull in customers, leaving the store empty except for herself and Brian. Most of the usual tasks for the day were already done, and so Janet was choosing something new to listen to. Brian was behind the counter, cleaning out the clutter from underneath and complaining about the slow sales. Janet smiled as she gingerly placed a record on the turntable and lowered the needle to the track she wanted.
“I got chills, they're multiplyin', and I'm losin' control! Cause the power you're supplyin', it's electrifyin'!” John Travolta’s voice rang out. Olivia Newton-John followed up by singing “You better shape up! Cause I need a man, and my heart is set on you!” And Janet raised her hands above her head and wiggled her hips as she began to dance around the sales floor.
“What the bloody…?” Brian mumbled to himself as he forgot about his task and watched her dance, her blonde hair flying wildly as she let her feet carry her rhythmically between the racks of records. When she finally came to rest in front of the counter, where a customer would usually stand, her cheeks were flushed and she was slightly out of breath. She also nearly glowed with happiness. She beamed a smile at him and he shook his head at her as if she had completely lost any sense she had ever had.
“What has gotten into you, lass?” He asked, and she smiled even brighter as she shrugged and hurried back across the floor to replace the record. “Oh, right. The kid, he’s what got into you.” He muttered sarcastically. “I would’ve thought he’d be the one dancing, though.”
“For your information, Brian,. Not that it’s any of your business, he did no such thing. Just because I’m American doesn’t make me easy. I just happen to be in a good mood.” She shot back, not appreciating his assumptions. She wasn’t crazy about the way she could feel his eyes boring holes into her backside as she walked away from him either.
“Sure, right.” He replied dismissively. Janet selected an album by The Clash, starting with ‘Clash City Rockers’. She began to dance again and sing along as she fixed the drooping corner of a poster which was displayed in the front window. She continued in this way, tidying up little things she noticed but rarely had the time to fix, and did her best to ignore Brian’s leering. She barely noticed when the door opened and closed, although she did tone her dancing down slightly.
When the song ended, she heard the sound of someone clapping their hands together in applause. She turned and brushed her hair out of her face to see Adam leaning against the counter and smiling a toothy smile at her. She couldn’t help but return his cheeky grin, even though she was a little embarrassed. She hurried to turn the volume down slightly on the record player, brushing past Adam as she did.
“Hi. How are you today?” She asked politely.
“I’m well, thanks. I would ask you the same, but I can already tell you’re in a good mood. You’re a good dancer, by the way.” He informed her smoothly, his posh accent unlike that of anyone else she’d ever known.
“Pffft! Yeah right.” She said dismissively.
“No, you are.” He insisted. “And that’s a great song. You have good taste in music.” He added and she smiled at the compliment. “So, what did you think of the band the other night?” he asked, still leaning casually against the counter, his head tilted to the side slightly in a gesture of interest for what she had to say.
“You guys are great. I mean, you have a kind of raw energy. A lot of talent and clearly an enthusiasm for music.” She told him, standing directly across the counter from him as Brian finished what he’d been doing and disappeared back into his office.
“So, what are you doing tonight?” Adam asked, catching Janet off guard as several teenagers entered the store all at once. They spread out, laughing and goofing around as they made a mess of the magazines and the on sale records. She’d suspected at least one of them of shoplifting 45’s in the past.
“What?” She asked distractedly. “Oh, um, nothing really.” She replied.
“Well you are now. Let me take you out to dinner.” He said, and it took a moment for the words to register in her mind. She turned back to look at the young man, her green eyes wide with surprise.
“Oh. Uh… well, thanks. But I…” She started to try and tell him no gently.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked.
“Um, well. Not exactly.” She said, growing frustrated. “Hey! Don’t unroll the posters, it says on the side what they are!” She snapped at one of the teenagers, who in turn made a rude gesture at her, but returned the poster to the bin he had taken it from.
“Not exactly.” Adam repeated. “Ok, well, then there’s no harm in going out to eat with a friend. I’ll pick you up here? What time do you get off work?” He asked and Janet searched her brain for a graceful way out of this situation. She wasn’t about to call Larry her boyfriend; especially after one date. But it felt creepy to go out with one of his closest mates.
“Seven.” She heard Brian say as he stepped behind the counter with her. “She gets off work at seven.” He informed Adam. “Now, unless you were planning on buying something, can she get back to work?”
“Right. Of course. I’ll be here at seven.” Adam replied, smiling once more at Janet as he pushed away from the counter and strolled out the door in his casual, cool manner. She gritted her teeth and glared at Brian, who obviously knew damn well what he was doing. He smiled playfully at her, sending a cold chill down her spine, and she decided it was best not to say anything. He seemed to get off on her irritation, so she was going to refuse to play along.
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“Hello, loverboy.” Bono greeted Larry with a grin as he arrived to rehearsal that afternoon. “How’d it go last night? Did you pull?”
“Wanker! I can’t believe you would even… it’s not like I come in here and ask you about Ali.” Larry replied sharply, glaring out from under his shaggy hair at his friend.
“That’s because she’s Ali.” Bono informed him with a laugh. “You know her.”
“Fuck off and die, I’m not gonna talk about this shite.” Larry retorted, withdrawing a set of drumsticks from his back pocket, indicating that they should get on with practicing.
“Wait, wait… L’il Lardence had a date? With a girl?” Adam asked, clenching a cigarette in one corner of his mouth as he spoke.
“Well, I think she was a girl.” Bono replied playfully. “It could’ve been Edge in a wig.” He added, wincing when Edge slapped him upside the back of his head.
“Leave him alone.” He said as he draped his guitar strap over his shoulder.
“You are so full of shit!” Larry complained, pointing a drumstick in Bono’s direction. “You know, she’s a nice girl, and she’s beautiful and if she doesn’t want to see me again I’m going to blame you. You’re the one who set everything arseways last night.”
“I set everything arseways?” Bono asked, feigning shock and horror at the thought.
“Fuck right you did. And you bloody well knew it. Lucky for you she realized I’m cool enough that it’s worth putting up with the likes of you to be with me.” He added, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth which made everyone else in the room have to chuckle.
“While we’re on the subject, I need to leave a bit early tonight. I have a date to meet at seven.” Adam said, his eyes narrowing as he drew deep on his cigarette, still gripping it in one corner of his mouth when he released the smoke out the other side.
“You’re kidding, right? We’re not going to have half a proper rehearsal before the gig this weekend if we keep this up.” Edge pointed out.
“I need to leave early, too.” Larry admitted. “I was supposed to be somewhere after school, but I was running late.”
“Well, what the fuck are we even doing here?” Edge grumbled.
“Hey, I could’ve just been late getting here, than Sparky over here would’ve left early, and we’d have gotten in no practice at all.” Larry pointed out.
“As compared to all the practice you’re getting in right now?” Paul McGuinness asked from the doorway of the small shed they used to rehearse.
“Point taken.” Adam granted, nodding in greeting at Paul, the band’s manager.
“Let’s do ‘Out of control’.” Bono suggested, and the boys forgot everything else as they dove head first into their music, as they always did.
***************************************************************
Janet was pacing the floor at six fifty five, wondering if she could simply lock the door and hide until Adam had come and gone. She knew she couldn’t be so rude, but she felt awful about the mix-up. In other circumstance, to make matters worse, she would’ve jumped at the offer of a date from Adam. He was cute, funny, eccentrically charming… everything she usually liked in a date. Now she was waiting to try and figure out how to tell him that while not leading him on.
She wasn’t interested in seeing anyone other than Larry. Normally she wouldn’t see anything wrong with dating two different guys, so long as they were just casual dates. The first few dates were rarely as intense as the one last night had been, after all. She would have drawn the line, however, at dating two boys who were friends with each other. That was certain to end in trouble, and she had enough trouble for her taste without making more of it.
She heard the bell clang as the door opened and turned to see Adam breeze casually into the store. He smiled at her, a sweet smile that made her grow anxious and uncomfortable. He had a handsome mouth, she realized, then scolded herself for the thought.
“Hi.” She greeted him with a sigh. “I’m afraid there was a misunderstanding.” She blurted out, and Adam frowned, his eyebrows drawing together in concern. “When Brian chased you out of here, I was trying to tell you that I couldn’t go out with you.” She said, the words tumbling out of her mouth now, refusing to be restrained.
“Oh.” Adam replied, blinking at her in surprise. “All right. Do you mean tonight? Or not at all?” He asked, letting the door drift closed behind him as he closed the distance between them. “I’d really like to get to know you better.” He told her, standing just a bit to close for propriety. Janet took a step back and looked up into his eyes.
“I’m sorry.” She said again. “I’ve just started seeing someone else… It’s not serious, but it wouldn’t be right for me to see you as well.” She explained and Adam smiled at her and shook his head.
“I don’t have a problem with that. Maybe this other guy wouldn’t mind you dating other people. If it’s not serious between you.” He told her, and she realized suddenly she was sweating slightly. She was backed up against a wall now, and Adam pressed the palm of one hand on the wall beside her and leaned on it casually. He was flirting with her blatantly, and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. She frowned at him, although her irritation was more with herself than him.
“The main problem is he’s a friend of yours.” She told him honestly and he frowned at her, his eyes moving back and forth quickly as he searched his mind for potential competition among his friends.
“Hey. What’s going on?” They heard Larry’s voice ask as he stepped inside, a rush of cool air entering the store with him.
“Oh, hell. You can’t be serious.” Adam said, looking up at Larry and then down at Janet with a smirk. Janet pursed her lips and nodded at him curtly. Adam chuckled heartily as he pushed away from the wall, leaving Janet her escape route. She hurried away from Adam, into the office where she collected her jacket and purse.
“This is the girl you went out with last night?” Adam asked Larry as soon as they were alone.
“Why is that funny?” Larry asked, his temper up now, aroused by the suspicious moment he’d stumbled into.
“I thought I had a date with her tonight, but she told me she was seeing someone else. I, uh… had no idea.” Adam said, still grinning at his younger friend. “Good going, man. Seriously, I never expected you and I would have the same taste in women.”
“You like anything female. It’s kind of hard to find a girl that isn’t your taste.” Larry replied.
“C’mon. She’s a party girl, not the type of girl you’re going to take home for Christmas dinner. I just expected you to find some quiet little church mouse who wouldn’t put out until you put a ring on her finger.” Adam explained.
“You’d better be careful what you’re saying about people, Adam. You don’t know her, or anything about her.” Larry warned, and Adam could tell from the tension in the young mans face that he was dead serious.
“You’re right. You’re right, I don’t know her. Look, I’m going to get out of here, since I’m obviously the odd man out. See you tomorrow, man.” Adam conceded, patting Larry on the shoulder as he walked past him and out the door.
“Ok, I need to lock up.” Janet was saying as she stepped out of the office, pulling the door shut behind herself and twisting the knob to make sure it was locked. She glanced around the room in search of Adam for a moment. “Did Adam leave?” She asked, and Larry nodded silently. “I’ll just lock up and I’m free for the night. Are you hungry?” she asked as she followed him out onto the street.
“A little.” He mumbled, obviously brooding over something.
“Look, that was not what it looked like.” She told him, leaning in closer to him, touching his cheek tenderly to make sure he was listening to her. He nodded again and Janet chewed nervously on her lower lip. “C’mon. I’ll make you some dinner.” She offered, turning and leading the way back to her apartment.
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She was growing more and more uncomfortable by the moment, feeling his eyes on her, studying her. He obviously had some question, something he was pondering about her, but unless he asked, she had no way of knowing what that was.
“Hope you like Italian.” She said, trying to make light conversation. “I’m not much of a cook, but it’s pretty hard to screw up spaghetti.” She joked.
“That’s fine.” He replied, and finally, her patience was at an end.
“Look, Larry, I don’t know what bug crawled up your ass tonight, but I’m not going to feel guilty when I haven’t done anything wrong!” She told him hotly, turning to face him, a jar of marinara sauce in one hand and a dish towel in the other.
“What?”
“Why are you sulking?” she asked, her voice softening just a tiny bit. She started to try and uncap the jar, straining visibly and getting no results.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” He said, moving to take the jar from her and opening it with one twist.
“I loosened it up for you.” She teased, and he granted her with a shy smile.
“So, what happened with Adam. I mean, why did he think you guys were going out tonight?” Larry asked, leaning one hip against the cupboard as she poured the sauce into a pan on the stove.
“There were a bunch of kids in the store while he was there this afternoon, and I was trying to be friendly to him while keeping an eye on them. Next thing I know, he’s asking me what time I get off work, and Brian’s telling him to come back at seven.” She explained. “And tonight… he just thought I should consider going out with more than one guy.”
“He didn’t know you and I were together.” Larry summed up.
“Are we?” She asked, her green eyes twinkling as she looked into his. “We’ve only gone out once.”
“And yet you told him no.” Larry teased back, smirking as he realized the significance of her reluctance to date other people.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to go out with him.” She replied smartly.
“Maybe.” Larry agreed, although his tone made it clear that he didn’t believe it.
“Or, maybe, I didn’t want to go out with anyone else either.” She said, stepping in closer to him, her eyes heavy lidded and her voice softening. “Maybe someone with a sweet smile and a babyface has taken up too many of my thoughts.” She offered, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him.
“Maybe I’m just a one man kind of girl.” She told him on a breathy whisper as he leaned in close, his nose rubbing against hers playfully. He smiled gently at her, hearing exactly what he had hoped to hear. He brushed a whispery kiss over her mouth, followed closely by a deeper kiss which quickly intensified. Her hands slid up into his hair and his hands moved around behind her to cup her backside, pulling her even tighter against him and making them both moan in surprise at the intensity of desire they felt.
Suddenly there was a loud hissing and popping sound and Janet pulled away quickly as she realized the water was boiling over onto the flame. She hurried to lower the heat and slide the pasta into the pot, laughing as she did. She glanced over her shoulder at Larry who was still leaning there, watching her, smiling rather proudly at his ability to distract her so efficiently. He liked being here, with her. Like this. It was cozy, welcoming, and fun. His house seemed so cold and empty these days, he sometimes dreaded going home.
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yay for more make-out scenes 
hooray an update! 
Larry/Adam rivalry.......sounds interesting to me!
