Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to zetaboards. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
To Live is to Die
Topic Started: March 5, 2008, 12:49 am (59,971 Views)
Lucifer's Angel
Member Avatar
Heavy Metal Seanchai
[ * ]
Damn, what a chapter :o Stupid Pepper, meth sucks. And damn, Ray died :( What's going to happen next?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Fade_To_Black
Member Avatar
Bad Seed
[ * ]
Poor Charlie!!! :( I feel so sorry for her!! Hope Sully looks after her, but i wouldv'e gone to see pepper though. Cant wait for the next parts :biggrin :heart:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mina
No Avatar
Morgenstern
[ * ]
Damn, what strong chapters...
James filed the divorce, seems to love Charlie, Ray's dead, Pepper's taken an overdose of meth...damnit...

I'm aching to know how's it going to continue
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
PurpleRose
Member Avatar
Frantic
[ * ]
Can't wait to read more :)

Hope there's some updates soon!

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Metalicious
No Avatar
Blackened
[ * ]
Hi girlies,
Ask and you shall receive. :D It's a pleasure to share the story.

*******************************************

I followed him out to the living room and curled up on the overstuffed couch, gazing around the room. There was a sliding door to the fire escape, and I smiled as I saw a collection of stuffed animals on the chair outside. The wall facing me was brick, with a huge flat screen tv in front of it, flanked by enormous speakers and even taller potted, leafy plants. In the corner to my right of that was a gorgeous piano, on top of which were about a dozen music books. The one propped open on the stand was ‘Classical Composers’ and I wondered what he’d been playing. The left hand wall had a floor to ceiling bookcase along half of it, and my eyes skimmed over the titles. Lots of Wiccan books, ones I recognized as being by Laurie Cabot, Sul’s mentor, and the bottom shelf was jam-packed with children’s books.

“Here you go.” He handed me a cold glass with a lemon wedge, and I took a sip, expecting to taste gin and tonic.

“Sprite?” I smiled at him.

“Figured you didn’t need alcohol tonight,” he patted my knee as he sat. “Tomorrow though, we’re gettin’ you hammered. How was your flight?”

I nodded. “Good. Slept for part of it.” I rested a hand on his leg. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you more warning. I had every intention of flying to Vancouver until I talked to Trish. And then I felt like I had to go somewhere…”

“Don’t apologize. Your timing is awesome. Skylar’s here tonight and tomorrow, and then Jen’ll be here to pick her up. Then it’s just me. What’s James think of you being here, then?” He leaned back and sipped at his drink. I looked down at my glass. “Uh huh. Still thinks you’re going to Van., huh?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter if he finds out, Sul, I just didn’t want to have to call and tell him. I’ve already hurt him enough.” I took another sip of Sprite and sighed. “This is a great apartment. I always wanted a fire escape,” I told him.

He laughed. “Why? You’ve got a big backyard, haven’t you?”

I smiled, nodding. “Yeah, but I liked the idea of sitting out at night, watching people go by, chatting under the stars, and it’s all just right outside your apartment. I’m romanticizing it, I guess. Backyards are great. Sometimes I just miss living right in the middle of the city.”

He tugged at my feet so my legs were stretched out across his. “You live in the middle of the city when you were in London?”

“Yup. I loved it. Everything was in walking distance. Pub across the street, wine shop downstairs, florist, bakery, dry cleaning across the other street, it was awesome. I loved that flat. I had a balcony, which was almost as cool as a fire escape,” I smiled, remembering. “I was on the top floor, and could spy on all the gardens around me. One guy used to garden in the nude.”

He laughed. “Lucky you.” He rubbed the hem of my dress between his thumb and forefinger. “This what you wore to the funeral?”

“Yeah. I meant to change…” I grinned. “But then I had to sing a song.” He smiled. “She’s beautiful, Sully. You must be just crazy about her.”

Rubbing a hand over my knee, he tilted his head to the side. “I am crazy about her. But you keep changing the subject. I’m asking you to talk about it, Charlie, cause I know you’ll feel better if you tell me what happened. So go change out of your dress, while I refill your glass, and meet me on the fire escape in five minutes.” He took my glass from me. “We can people-watch and chat under the…” he glanced out the door “smog, I guess.”

Laughing, I went into the bedroom and changed into faded jeans and a WCC wife beater. I shook out my hair and took a quick look in the mirror. James was right. I was looking smaller. I made a mental note to eat more and stress less, and headed out to join Sully.

COC’s Clean My Wounds was playing low on the stereo, and he had turned one of the speakers to face the open door. I pulled the door halfway closed behind me, and sat beside him, taking the glass he handed to me. A trio of candles flickered in the shelter of little hurricane lamps, and the small table was surrounded by flowering plants, and overflowing pots of herbs. “This is very…domestic.” I leaned back against the iron bars of the railing, and sipped my drink. “It suits you. Very calm and cozy.”

He looked at me for a moment, and then took my drink, setting it down beside his. Going inside, he came back out with a pillow, and put it behind him. “Sit,” he said, patting the space between his legs.

Part of me wondered if it would be too easy to get carried away, being that close to him. The rest of me was desperate for human contact though, and I moved over, letting him pull me back against his chest. He slid his legs up, and I rested my arms on his knees. “Thanks,” I said softly.

“No probs. You talk more easily when you’re being touched,” he said, running a hand over my hair. “So talk. Tell me why you’re not in Vancouver right now.”

I wiped at the condensation on my glass. “I think I’d be in the way. The whole reason Pep did so much meth was because he’d been in a fight with Trish. Over me.” Closing my eyes, I relaxed into the hand that was gently stroking my neck. “He came to visit a few nights ago, and it turned out we had some unresolved issues, which we tried to, um, resolve. It went absolutely nowhere, but being as honest as he is, Pep told Trish, and it came out wrong, and she got angry.”

“Think they’ll be okay? Once he recovers?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “Pep loves women. I mean, LOVES them. And the only chick he’s talked about since they met is her. When he came over the other night, he knew I would have let him go farther, just to see if that was what he really wanted. For him to stop…man, that’s huge. He must be smitten.”

“So you two are cool now? You and him, I mean?” I nodded. “Cool. And you and James?” He stopped playing with my hair and neck and draped his arms over top of mine.

“Are not anything remotely close to ‘cool’,” I sighed. “I know you think it’ll help,” I said softly, “but I don’t wanna talk about it. Not yet, anyway.”

“’kay. You sleepy? It’s still pretty early for you, isn’t it?” He pressed a kiss to my temple, and I nodded. “We’ll stay out here a little longer, and then you should try to get some rest. Big day tomorrow, if you’re up for it. Friend of mine’s getting married.” I started to object and he gently put his hand over my mouth. “You’re invited. Invitation said ‘guest’, so that’s you. And Skylar’s a flower girl. If you don’t wanna go, that’s cool too. You can think about it tonight, and let me know tomorrow.”

Turning slightly so I could rest my head on his shoulder sideways, I slipped my arm around his waist and smiled when I felt his arms encircle me. We stayed like that for a while, not speaking, just listening to the sounds of people and cars on the street below. “You were right,” he said eventually. “This is nice. I think I can even see a couple stars.” Squeezing me tighter, he rubbed my bare shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time, girl.”

“Who says I’m having a rough time?” I smiled against his neck. “Cuddling with you, by candlelight, under the stars, while…hang on…while Pearl Jam plays in the background. Oh yeah, really rough.” Standing up, I ran my hands through my hair. “But you’re right. I should get some rest. Specially if I’m crashing a wedding tomorrow.”

He grinned. “Hey, so you’ll come? Cool.” Following me inside, he stood outside my bedroom door for a second, thinking. Then, he grabbed my bag off the bed and took my hand in his, leading me down the hall. “I’ll stay in that room, you stay in mine. You’ll sleep better, trust me.” I looked in the doorway, and then back at him.

“You sure? I don’t wanna take over your space. And this,” I gestured into the room, “is definitely YOUR space.” The walls were a rich, warm brown, with a huge painting over the bed of the moon eclipsing the sun. I sat on the bed and entertained the idea of never leaving it again, it was so comfortable. “Are you sure you want me to stay in here? It’s so nice…” I glanced at him. “Don’t get me wrong, so was the other room, but this is so cozy. So you.”

He sat beside me and took my hands in his. “Good. I want you to be comfortable. And Skylar gets up pretty early in the morning, it’ll be quieter if you’re farther removed from the tiny-girl-whirlwind that is her before 9 a.m.” Leaning forward, he kissed my cheek, and then hugged me. “Get some sleep. Get up when you feel like it. Sweet dreams.”

I waited til he’d left and then went over to the corner, and started to lift up a dark red square of fabric that was draped over something. Stopping suddenly, I went out and found him tidying up the kitchen. “Um…the thing in the corner of you room…should I not, um, touch that?”

He smiled, and put away the dish he was holding. “If you can resist, yeah, that’d be good. Altars are pretty personal.” He chuckled. “I’m not trying to add to your curiosity, and if you want, I can show you tomorrow. It’s not that exciting,” he assured me.

“Okay,” I gave him a shy smile, pleased that he’d share that with me if I asked. “Night, Sul.”

“Night, doll.”

I changed into the Hawaiian print boxers and white tank I’d brought to sleep in, and crawled under the covers, practically moaning with pleasure at how soft they were. Jersey sheets. God, this man had excellent taste in bedding. And the bed smelled like him, a mix of lavender, musk and something indefinable. I pulled the covers over me and snuggled down into the pillow.

****************************

I fought consciousness, trying to ignore the weight that was heavy on my legs. Giving up, I opened my eyes slowly, and let out a laugh as I saw Skylar sitting on my ankles, watching me. “Morning, sunshine,” I said, my voice a little hoarse.

“Morning,” she said, giving me a little wave. “Want some breakfast? We’re having waffles. Cause I got to pick what to have. I’m gonna have two. You can have two.”

Sully appeared in the doorway, shooting Skylar a disapproving look, though I could see him trying not to smile. “I thought we talked about this. We were gonna let Charlie sleep a little longer, remember?”

Skylar threw up her hands and shrugged. “She was awake!” she told him like he was crazy for accusing her. Climbing down off the bed, she came over to stand at my head. “If you get up now, we can play with my toys before I hafta go get my dress.”

I looked over at Sully. “Who can argue with that kind of logic?” Turning back to her, I said, “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be ready.” She tilted her head to one side and wrinkled her cute little nose. I thought for a minute. “Go play three songs on one of your cds, and I’ll be out after that.” She ran out of the room and seconds later I heard Aerosmith reverberating through the whole place. “Guess I better get a move on,” I giggled.

I showered quickly and slipped a little white cotton sundress over my head. When I got to the kitchen, the table was set for three, and Sully handed me a mug of steaming coffee. “Ohhhh…you’re an angel,” I told him. The waffles were amazing, homemade with fresh fruit on top. “Did you cook these?” I asked Skylar, and she nodded solemnly.

“Liar,” Sully laughed, pinging a blueberry at her. She giggled and threw it back at him. “You know what happens to little girls who lie? They get TICKLED!” he picked her up and blew raspberries on her stomach while she squealed with laughter. “Okay, baby, go brush your teeth, your ma’s gonna be here soon so you can go get your dress! Ooooh…pretty pink dress,” he grinned and she giggled, ‘ooh’ing along with him. “Isn’t she awesome?” he asked me as she ran down the hall. Slinging an arm over my shoulder, he guided me over to the couch. “Sit, relax, have some more coffee. I gotta clean up so Jen doesn’t think I’m letting Sky live in a hovel when she’s with me.” He kissed me quickly and started to walk away, and then called over his shoulder, “meant to go for the cheek, sorry about that.”

“No worries.” I sat at the piano, and slowly followed along with the music in front of me. There was a knock on the door and then it opened slowly. I looked over my shoulder and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she smiled back. “You must be…Charlie?” I nodded, getting off the piano bench. “I’m Jen. Skylar’s mom.” We shook hands and Sully came into the room, looking worried. “No rush, I know I’m early. Don’t panic, we’ll entertain each other,” she gestured to me, and he grinned, ducking back into the kitchen.

Skylar appeared almost immediately, so we didn’t have to entertain each other very long. “Bye, Charlie, bye daddy,” she yelled to Sully. He came out and scooped her up, kissing her fiercely on the cheek.

“I’ll bring her back at two?” Jen asked, and he nodded. “Cool. See you later, Charlie.” I waved to Skylar as they left, and then followed Sully into his room.

“You sure you got enough sleep?” he asked me as he rooted through his closet. “Cause you can go back to bed for a while if you want.”

“Nah…my body’ll adjust to Eastern time faster if I just stay up. Shouldn’t be that hard anyway, seeing as I was just on it a couple days ago. It’s fine. And that was a very nice wake up call this morning. And an awesome breakfast, thanks for that,” I smiled at him as he glanced over his shoulder.

“So if you’re trying to adjust to this time zone…does that mean you’re gonna stay for a while?” He came and stood in front of me, placing a hand on each of my shoulders. “Cause you can, you know. Stay as long as you want. I know you have stuff to deal with at home eventually, and you can’t stay away forever, but until you’re ready to deal with it…” he looked around, and then back at me, shrugging.

“Thanks,” I said softly. Maybe he’d get tired of having me around, but for now the offer was there, and I was glad to have it. I stood and kissed his cheek lightly. “So…this wedding. I should probably make an attempt at looking pretty, hmm?” he nodded slowly. “I’m gonna have to buy a dress. Should I just come back here after, or call you from somewhere and we can meet up?”

A smile spread across his face. “Dress shopping? For you? I’m in.”

Twenty minutes later, we were in the back of a cab, heading to Filene’s. I had tried to talk him out of coming with me, to no avail. All my suggestions that he’d get bored, annoyed, tired, were shot down. Settling into one of the armchairs so thoughtfully provided, he waited while I gathered up a dozen dresses and went into a spacious dressing room. The first, which had looked nice on the hanger, but turned out to be a turquoise nightmare on me, didn’t even make it out the door.

“What the hell’s the use of me coming with you if you won’t show me?” he laughed when I threw it over the top of the door. I slipped into the second, a peach, floaty, chiffon one, and opened the door, doing a little twirl. He smiled, and shook his head. “Not you.” The third, a pleated, ribbon-tie dress, got the thumbs down for being “too grown up”. Four, five, six, and seven, were either met with a very solemn shake of the head, or in case of six, peals of laughter at the horrendous ruffle on the side. The ruffle had snuck by me, and I only noticed it when I tried the dress on, but Sully was hearing none of that, accusing me of having worse taste in clothes than Shannon. Still laughing, I opened the door to show him dress number eight, and he stood up. “Perfect,” he smiled. Gunmetal grey, it was shimmery, without being too showy. It had a halter neckline, and a very low back. The lines were clean, and the hem stopped at my knees.

Once the dress was bought and bagged, we headed over to Tealuxe for a cup of Monk’s Blend, one of my favorite flavors, and damn hard to find. Returning to Sully’s apartment for lunch, I ate a little, and then decided to nap while he went for a workout at the boxing gym he frequented. When I woke at 1:30, he was sitting on the side of the bed, gently stroking my cheek. “Hi,” he whispered. “Thought you might wanna get up. Skylar’s gonna be back soon, and her wake up call would be a lot louder than this,” he smiled. “You feeling alright? You look a little flushed.”

I nodded, sitting up. “Feeling fine. Just sleepy, but that’ll go away. How was the gym? Did you spar?” I smiled.

He nodded. “Yeah, it was good, got a couple good matches in. You ever box?”

“Not really. I belonged to a boxing gym once, but was too scared to actually do any sparring.” I made a fist and slowly brought my hand towards his face. He grinned and covered my hand with his own.

“Not like that, babes. Like this.” He moved my fingers, and then held my shoulder while he drew my arm forward. “So you make sure your feet are planted, use your free hand to protect your body, and then throw all your weight behind it. You’ve got some muscle,” he winked at me, squeezing my arm, “you could do some damage. Now then…you ‘bout ready to get up?”

I yawned. “Yeah. What time does it start?”

“Five. Look…I just gotta do this once, and then I’m leaving the ball in your court, okay? I don’t wanna make things more complicated for you, and please don’t use what I just taught you against me, but…” Slowly, he bent his head towards me, giving me plenty of time to push him away if I wanted. I stayed perfectly still, and closed my eyes as his soft lips touched my own. His hand caressed my face, thumb running over my jaw, and I opened my mouth, wanting more. His tongue gently massaged mine, and one of his arms slid around my back, pulling me closer. I closed my mouth over his bottom lip, sucking on it, and he finally pulled away, breathless. “Okay…” he said slowly, rubbing his thumb over my mouth. “So we’re clear, yeah. Ball? In your court. No pressure. Just…puttin’ that out there. Right. Okay.” Walking out of the room, he flicked on the overhead light for me, and closed the door behind him.

“No pressure,” I repeated quietly. “Ball in my court. Great. Cause I’LL know what to do with it. Sure.” I tidied the bedcovers and pulled my hair back, before joining Sully on the fire escape.

He handed me a glass of lemonade, and bumped my hip with his as we leaned over the railing. “So? Did I make it more complicated?”

“Nope,” I shot him a sideways glance. “Not complicated. Just…fun. You kiss some good for a boy from the yaaahd,” I giggled, putting on my best Boston accent.

“Let’s see how the accent holds up after some champagne later, hmm?” he grinned. “We’re still on for that plan, right? Getting you hammered?” I nodded. “Excellent,” he drummed his fingertips together in a classic Mr. Burns impersonation, and I choked a little on my lemonade.

Skylar and Jen returned at two, and we had a little fashion show of the pink dress. I hopped in the shower and then we had to have another fashion show, this time of my dress. And then the three of us sat on the fire escape, waiting for Sully to get ready. Jen was a bridesmaid in the wedding, so she was leaving Skylar with us, and would take her home after the ceremony.

We took Jen’s car to the church, and I looked up at the towering steeple as we went in. Sully took my hand, and I breathed a little easier with his touch. I watched as he greeted almost everyone in his path with a hug, or kiss on the cheek, and I shook hands, trying to remember names as I was introduced around.

The string quartet started up, and we turned to watch the procession of flower girls and bridesmaids. Skylar looked adorable in her pink, frilly dress and little white Mary Janes. She tossed rose petals in front of her as she walked, looking very solemn, until she reached our row, at which point she threw the rest of them at Sully, grinning as she continued to look ahead. “Cheeky baby,” he muttered, trying not to laugh.

The ceremony was beautiful, and I found myself dabbing at my eyes more than once. I still wasn’t on speaking terms with God, but I listened to the reading from Corinthians, and found myself thinking of James. “Love is patient, love is kind…” the reading continued, and I sighed a little, leaning against Sully.

We filed out of the church slowly, and I waited as he and Jen went through the receiving line. Having finally finished that, he came over to me and led me to where a string of limos were waiting to take guests to the reception. We piled in with a bunch of strangers, and a few bottles of champagne, and several minutes later, pulled up to the venue. Marble House was a sprawling property with the biggest mansion I’d ever seen, the interior of which was all done in marble. It was already busy, with people spreading out over the gardens, and throughout the ground floor rooms.

“Man…you could have a killer game of hide and seek here,” I said as we walked into yet another enormous room. The dining room was red marble, floor and ceiling. “It’s like it’s on fire!” I giggled, and Sully handed me another glass of champagne. “Oh yeah, thanks. Cause I’m not acting silly enough already.”

We wandered around the house, and then out into the back garden, where I was thrilled to see Shannon, bringing the total count of people I knew up to four. There was no arranged seating, so we all sat together, Sully on one side of me, Shannon on the other, and they kept me in stitches all the way through the speeches, with various stories about whomever was speaking. The best man had apparently tried to hit it with most of the bridesmaids, and none of them had given him a second look, much to his annoyance. The bride’s father was, bless his heart, three sheets to the wind, and broke into song before his speech ended, and the groom’s mom got about three words into her toast before she broke down crying.

At nine, when the sky started to dim a little, uniformed staff came out and lit torches all around the gardens, and a DJ and band set up to play. We gathered around the patio to watch the bride and groom have the first dance, and I smiled at their choice of song. “You okay, girl?” Sully asked as I wiped at my eyes again.

“Yeah,” I assured him. “This was my parents’ song. They danced to it at their wedding, too.” In My Life had been one of my mom’s favorite Beatles tunes, and the few times I remembered my dad being coerced into dancing around the kitchen with her, it was to this song. Squeezing my hand, he kissed my cheek, and then winked at me as the song finished, and LeeAnn Womack’s I Hope You Dance came on. I smiled at him as we joined a few other couples on the patio, and closed my eyes as he pulled me to him, one hand on the small of my back, the other holding my hand in his.

I opened my eyes to see Jen and Skylar nearby, with Shannon and a few others who had been at our table. “You gonna dance with your daughter before she falls asleep?” I murmured to him as we turned slowly.

“Yup. Right after this. But I’ve still got, like, two verses left, so rest that pretty little head back on my shoulder like you were, and relax.” I did as he asked, and let him lead me slowly around the patio until the song finished. When it did, he deposited me with Shannon, and grabbed Skylar for a dance around the gardens while Smashmouth’s cover of “I’m a Believer” played. She threw her head back and shrieked with laughter, and Shannon and I guzzled more champagne while we watched the two of them. Thoroughly wound up and hyper, she was handed off to Jen, and we said goodnight as they left.

“Wanna play?” he asked, and I turned to face him, not understanding what he meant. “Hide and seek,” he smiled. “Like you said. You hide…I’ll seek. Outside only. I’ll give you five minutes. Go!”

More than a little drunk, I stumbled away, and ran towards the giant maze of hedges, hoping I wouldn’t get lost. My phone rang as I ran, and I pulled it from my little handbag, checking the number. Seeing it was Trish’s phone, I stopped running and answered it. “What’swrongwhereisheareyoualrightwhat’shappening?” I slurred out in a rush.

Pepper laughed at the other end of the phone and let out a low whistle. “Drinking, are you, baby girl?”

I sighed. “You, sir, have no business pointing fingers at people using alcohol. Least I’m not lying in a hospital somewhere, scaring the shit out of everybody, making them think I had a heart attack! Christ, Pep, what were you thinking?” I sat on the grass and waited for him to respond.

“I wasn’t. I was pissed, and worried, and an old buddy of mine was around, and things went further than I planned. I’m sorry I scared you, honey.” He sounded miserable, and I wished he were with me so I could hug him. And then smack him. “I’m alright now, though, if that helps. And Trish has whacked me over the head with various heavy objects, on your behalf, so you should feel good about that.”

I giggled. “Good for her.”

“So where are you? She said you changed your plans when you heard I was okay, which I understand. But where the hell did you go? I called James, he was still under the impression that you were coming here. Can’t say he’s overly pleased that you’re kinda missing…but that’s between you two.”

“I…am at a mansion. In the back gardens of a mansion, actually. I was at a wedding, and now I’m playing hide and seek. And I’ll probably be caught any second now cause I’m talking.” I hesitated, not sure I wanted to discuss where I was staying. “I’m in Boston, Pep. With Sully. And if there’s a speech coming from your end, I’d rather not hear it right now. I just needed to get away.”

“There’s no speech, baby girl,” he said softly. “Do what makes you happy. I know I gave you shit for being with him, but if you like him, and if you’re okay there, then you should stay.” I heard quiet footsteps approaching, and whispered that I had to go, but would call him soon. Clicking ‘end’, I sat still and waited for Sully to appear.

“Heyyyyyyyy, pretty girl,” a man who was NOT Sully slurred at me. I mentally cursed myself for wandering around a strange place alone, AGAIN, and started to dial Sully’s cell when drunk guy lurched forward. I ducked easily, shoving him past me, and backed away. “Come back here, little bitch,” he muttered, reaching for me. I backed up faster, and he started running at me. My heart pounding, I turned and ran, the heels of my shoes sinking into the soft grass. I felt his hand on my shoulder and whirled around.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “You wanna play? We can play,” I tilted my head at him, and flashed him a smile. Feet balanced, weight evenly distributed, I pulled my arm back and smashed my fist into his face before he could react. Owing mostly to how much he’d had to drink, and probably not to my technique, he went down hard. I slipped my shoes off, watching to make sure he didn’t get up, and ran like hell back towards the house.

Sully was chatting with Shannon when I reached the patio. “You SUCK at hide and seek,” I told him, breathlessly. “Some guy? Came after me? And I hit him!” I said gleefully, holding up my right hand, which was now red and stinging.

Hauling me inside, Sully sat me down and made me go over what happened, telling me to describe the guy, while Shannon went to find ice for my hand. “I can’t believe some creep came after you. Are you okay?” he put a hand on my knee, and I nodded.

“I’m great. I HIT him! Hard!” Seeing his confused expression, I tried to explain. “It was nice not to be helpless. To be able to do something about it. Maybe I should look into this boxing thing…” I trailed off as Shannon reappeared with a napkin full of ice.

“I think we’ll take this on the road,” Sully said, pulling me up beside him. “Before it gets out that you decked the best man,” he grinned. “Otherwise we’ll be here all night with woman wanting to thank you.”

We got into one of the limos, and I leaned against Sully as we drove off. Resting my hand in the ice, I closed my eyes, and smiled when I felt his lips on mine. “Thought the ball was in my court,” I said, eyes still closed.

“It is. I just needed to do that. I’m so glad you’re okay. That was a stupid idea, asking you to run off in the dark like that. I had this whole romantic, mackin’ on you under the stars thing planned, and then Shannon and I got talking about his girlfriend, and all of a sudden, you show up with like a sprained hand and a huge grin on your face, saying you just took out the best man. God. The best laid plans…” he laughed.

We were silent for the rest of the drive, and the ice was starting to melt everywhere by the time we arrived at his apartment. Settling me on the couch, he went into the kitchen to get more ice, and I moved to the fire escape, pressing play on the radio on my way out. Sully joined me outside, handing me a package of frozen peas. “…thanks?” I giggled at him.

“Put it on your hand, dork,” he laughed. “I haven’t got enough ice. That’ll be just as good.” He lit the candles on the table, and turned up the stereo a little. “Thanks for coming today,” he said, smiling. “I’m not a huge fan of big, fancy events, but it was cool having you there. And that’s pretty sweet that your folks had the same wedding song,” he added. Taking my unhurt hand, he laced his fingers through mine. “We only got the one dance. Think you’re up for another one?”

“Definitely. You put it on, I’ll be out here with the peas when you’re ready.” My hand felt like it was going numb, but the stinging had stopped.

I heard a song start up, and Sully appeared in the doorway. “I have to tell you something,” he said quietly, looking very serious. “I…I haven’t really told anybody this before, so it’s not easy to say…” he held up the stereo remote and turned up the volume, and I heard the melody from Tim McGraw’s Live Like You Were Dyin’. “I fucking LOVE this song.” He shot me a grin and I burst out laughing. Putting the bag of peas on the table, I took the hand he offered me and pulled him onto the fire escape, linking my arms around his neck.

He swayed back and forth with me, hands looped around my waist, and rested his forehead against mine, singing along with the song. Loudly. I giggled as he reached the chorus, and then joined in, trying to sing louder than he was.

“I went sky diving/I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu,”

Sully rubbed his nose against mine at that part, and I giggled.

“and I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter
and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.”

Moving closer to him, I put my head on his shoulder and hugged him tightly as we danced. The song finished, and he turned the stereo off with the remote. “Sleepy, Charlie?” he asked softly against my hair.

I looked at him and smiled. “Yeah. What you said, about the ball being in my court…you’re cool with that? No rush?”

He took my chin in his hand and brought his face close to mine. “Absolutely.”

“Tuck me in, then?” I asked, and he smiled, taking my hand and leading me into his bedroom. I undressed in the bathroom, and came back out in what I’d worn to bed the night before. He was standing in the corner, holding the red fabric I’d seen the night before. I went to stand beside him, and took in all the little details of the altar. Made of dark wood, the chest was intricately carved, and smelled like cedar and lavender.

“Figured I’d satisfy your curiosity before you went to bed,” he said quietly. I put an arm around his waist as he started to explain what all the things were, and their significance. “To the North of the altar is the Earth Element, the brown bag of sea salt, and in North-East is the sacred pentacle; in the East is a dish of incense, and South-East is the thurible; in the South is the fire candle, and South-West is the Athame, with its blade always pointing East; in the West is the chalice of water, and North-West is the cauldron.”

He went through with me what each item was used for, and where he got them, and I was touched that he wanted to share all this with me. “Sul?” I asked quietly when he’d finished speaking. “Sometime…if I’m here long enough, and if you’re cool with it, and she’s cool with it…would it be okay…only if she didn’t mind…can I meet Laurie? I know she has a shop and stuff, I could just go on my own, it doesn’t have to be through you, I just…I wanted to ask first.”

He looked at me for a moment, and then kissed my forehead. “Course you can. We can go on the weekend. She’d love to meet you.” Placing the sheet back over the altar, he held up the bedcovers, and I slid under them. “Night, girl,” he said softly, cupping the back of my neck while he kissed me. “Sorry,” he laughed when he pulled away. “I keep telling you the ball’s in your court and then I keep stealing it back.” Rumpling my hair, he got up and turned off the overhead light. “Sweet dreams,” he said, and closed the door behind him.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lucifer's Angel
Member Avatar
Heavy Metal Seanchai
[ * ]
I'm not really a Godsmack fan, but I love how you portray Sully in this fic. Skyler's a cute kid, and I loved the altar. My mother would have a heart attack if I had one, she already thinks I'm going to hell :rolleyes:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
elena
Member Avatar
Outlaw Torn
[ * ]
Write more,please!I hope that Charlie will stay with James,because he is perfect for her. :heart:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mina
No Avatar
Morgenstern
[ * ]
Awesome stuff!
I can't wait for more :)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Fade_To_Black
Member Avatar
Bad Seed
[ * ]
Wicked part!!! Cant wait for more :biggrin :nanner: I did get a bit scared when that guy found Charlie though :( but she's a tough gal :tu:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
maisy blue
Member Avatar
Some Kind Of Monster
[ * ]
How did I miss all these updates? Discovering them was just like finding a bunch of presents hidden behind the Christmas tree after i thought all the gifts were already opened!

First of all- I remain a Sully and Charlie fan. I know it's all sort of futile to root for them, but I just *have* to. While their characters seem headed in different directions, I like the parts when their lives intersect so very much. Charlie seems so on top of her game, but Sully seems to be someone who can actually teach her new things every day. I like how she is when she's around him.

I can't believe that Pep ODed. ARGHHHH! Like Charlie needed that on her plate. When James woke Charlie up with the news, I just shook my head. I seriously wish I could call Charlie up and get her to come down here for a vacation. She'd be loads of fun to have around, and I could hide her from all heavy metal boys for a week or two. She needs a break.

I'm glad Charlie didn't go straight to Pep when she got the news. For once, she thought about herself, and I thinks she needs to do more of that.

That guy, at the wedding? Needs a baseball bat to connect with his most intimate parts. And his skull. Asshole. I was cheering Charlie on when she hit him. Although it was a little nerve wracking when she stopped running and stopped to make that decision.

I love the altar imagery. I keep thinking I need to set one up just for meditation purposes, but where is the time?!

I love this story. I can't wait to read more.



:heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
PurpleRose
Member Avatar
Frantic
[ * ]
Hope we get an update soon :nanner:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Metalicious
No Avatar
Blackened
[ * ]
Sorry girls - been violently ill this week. Finally feeling better.

*************************************************

“Hey, girl…wake up, Charlie.” I rolled over to see Sully leaning over me, dressed in track pants and a black sleeveless shirt. “Morning,” he smiled as I rubbed my eyes and stretched. “Wondered if you wanted to come with me to the gym today. If your hand’s feeling better, you could do a bit of training. Think you’re up for it?”

I looked at the clock and groaned. “It’s seven a.m., Sul, I don’t even think I’m up for…being up.” Stretching, I flexed my right hand and found it didn’t hurt that much. “Give me ten minutes?”

“You can have five. And we’re jogging there,” he grinned. I narrowed my eyes and threw a pillow at him as he closed the door.

Easing out of bed slowly, I dug through my bag for workout clothes. Pulling on black Adidas pants, a black sports bra, and a worn in grey tee shirt with my university football team’s logo on it, I found my sneakers and joined Sully in the living room. “Any chance of coffee on the way?” I asked as I did up the laces.

He held out two Starbucks to-go espresso cups and handed one to me. “Thought you might need this.”

I sipped at the hot liquid, savoring the sweet, sweet caffeine. “Ohhhhh….I love you.” I caught him grinning and pointed to the cup. “Talkin’ to the coffee, dude.” He laughed and ushered me out the door as I finished drinking.

We jogged slowly down the street, and I felt my muscles warming and loosening, and nudged Sully to pick up the pace. The sun was out, and so were a whole lot of people, even this early in the morning. We passed a lovely park, and I made a mental note to ask Sully if we could go back there later. We finally stopped in front of a corner building, with a glass front. Sully led me inside, waved to the receptionist, and led me downstairs. Wayyyy downstairs. “Used to be a parking garage,” he informed me as we continued down the steps.

We reached the main gym, and I saw a huge ring, with a dozen punching bags positioned around two sides of it, an impressive assortment of free weights, and a few cardio machines. Two walls were covered in mirrors, and a handful of very muscular, heavily tattooed men were jumping rope beside the boxing ring, while music pumped out of the speakers on the ceiling. Sully brought me over to one of the men, and introduced me. The appropriately named, ‘Tank’, grinned and shook my hand, and Sully left the two of us to get acquainted.

“Let’s get your hands wrapped, doll, and then we’ll get you started.” He wrapped my wrists and palms in yellow fabric, and secured the ends. “Can you skip?” he asked, handing me a long jump rope.

“Not since I was about ten, but I’m sure it’ll come back to me.” I took the rope and started slowly, trying very hard not to trip over my own feet. Tank watched for a few seconds, and then told me he’d be back in twenty minutes. Sully came over after ten, standing off to one side of me, arms folded across his chest. “If you’re waiting for me to fall on my ass,” I said, slightly out of breath, “stay where you are. It’ll probably happen any second now.”

He laughed and went over to the speed bag. I watched his hands move in an easy rhythm, his arms flexed at the elbows, a sheen of sweat covering his skin. Catching my eye in the mirror, he grinned. “Checkin’ me out?”

“No,” I scowled, trying not to laugh. “Just taking note on your form, for later.” He smirked and winked, and I giggled, shaking my head. “Speed-bag form, Sul. For later when I’m using it. Christ. Dirty!” I kept going until Tank came back, and after a fifteen minute hard run on a treadmill, he placed me in front of one of the heavy bags. Coaching me on how to move my body, he held the bag for me while I hit it. My hand felt fine with the wrap on it, and every once in a while, we’d stop and he’d show me another punch.

“You wanna take a break?” he asked after a while. I shook my head quickly and kept going, removing my sweaty shirt and tossing it on the floor. It was tiring, but addictive. It felt more aggressive than rugby, even though I was hitting a bag, not a body, and when Tank finally came around the bag and examined my hands, I didn’t want to stop. “Get some water, take a rest, and then we’ll work on your footwork.”

I wandered over to where Sully was chatting with a group of three guys, and he slung an arm over my shoulder. “Looked like you were havin’ fun, girl,” he smiled at me. I assured him I was, and he introduced me to the group. “Charlie, this is Matt, Ollie, and Luke.” We talked for a bit, and then Tank came to get me.

Placing me in front of one of the mirrors, he looked me up and down. “So…footwork. Kinda like dancing. You any good at that?” I moon walked away from him, bumping into one of the heavy bags, and he laughed. “Guess not.” Telling me to stay on the balls of my feet, he made me practice moving side to side quickly, ducking and shifting my stance back and forth. After several minutes of that, he called Sully over, and told us both to get in the ring.

I laughed and shook my head. “Dude…no way.” Sully hopped into the ring and held out his hand. I put my hands on my hip and glared at him.

“What? I won’t hurt ya,” he grinned.

“That is SO not what I’m worried about.” I gestured to the guys standing around, watching us. “I’m not ready to get my ass kicked in front of an audience.” There was much shuffling and mumbling behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that all the guys had turned around, and were chatting with each other, facing the concrete wall. Laughing, I climbed into the ring with Sully. “Fine, we’ll spar.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “But don’t complain when I whip your butt.”

Somebody cranked the music, and Smack My Bitch Up pounded through the system. Tank instructed us to only do hits to the torso, so we left off the headgear. Circling around each other, I tried to remember the footwork thing, and hopped backwards as Sully threw the first punch. I ducked the second, tried to hit him, and tried to duck the third punch, but he collided with my face. I staggered backwards as he grabbed at me, keeping me upright. “Shit, baby, I’m so sorry.”

Tank came over and held up his hand. “How many fingers?”

“Seventeen?” I muttered, rubbing my eye. “Just gimme a second, I’ll be fine.” I opened my other eye and saw how worried Sully was. “Calm down. This is just a prelude to me kicking your ass. I lull you into thinking you’re winning, and then I attack,” I grinned, and then winced as Tank prodded the skin around my eye.

“Okay, doll, you’re done for the day. Come back tomorrow and we’ll give you full body armor before you get anywhere near the ring.” Patting my butt lightly, he said goodbye and took off towards the back of the gym.

“Can we come back tomorrow?” I asked eagerly, as Sully looked at my face, touching it gently.

“Come here every day if it makes you that happy,” he said, smiling. “Get your shirt, girl, I’ll buy ya some breakfast on the way home.”

Unwrapping my hands, I grabbed my shirt off the floor and followed him up the stairs, waving goodbye to the rest of the guys. Stopping into a little market, we picked up some fresh bagels and fruit, and handed me a nectarine and a cinnamon-raisin bagel as we walked. Passing the park we’d seen on the way over, I stopped and pulled on his sleeve. “Can we come here sometime and hang out?”

“Like…for lunch today? Bring a picnic?”

“Yay! Brilliant!” I hugged him, and we kept walking. I polished off the nectarine, bagel, and a banana by the time we’d reached his place. I showered and changed, and when I emerged half an hour later, he was on the phone, arranging what sounded like dinner plans, while he transplanted herbs into bigger pots. He hung up and I glanced the clock on the wall, and then at him. “You’re like the damn Army,” I laughed. “You get more done before 10am than most people get done all day!”

“Laurie’s invited us over for dinner tonight. I know you’re gonna have a pretty nice shiner by then, but I told her we’d be there. Hope that’s okay.” He came over and pressed his fingers to the side of my face. “I really whacked you hard, huh.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. Doesn’t hurt that much. I’ll get you back tomorrow if it’ll make you feel less guilty.” He still looked worried. “Sully…c’mon, you didn’t meant to do it. And I’d rather you actually put some weight behind your punches than hold back just cause I’m new at this.”

He drew me into a hug and rubbed my back. “Okay. You can wail on me tomorrow morning to make up for it. I’m thinking I might pop out and get a little gift for Laurie, to take tonight. Wanna come along?”

“Oooh, yeah. Let me grab my bag, I’ll be two seconds.” I ran into the bedroom and tossed my phone, wallet, a book and my sunglasses into my white canvas bag, and met him at the door. “What?” He kept staring at me.

“Nothing…you just look awfully cute. Like you’re going to the beach,” he smiled. “Bikini, pink top, white skirt, flipflops…” he sighed.

“You want the ball back, don’t ya,” I grinned at him. He laughed and held the door open for me.

He took me to a sweet little shop in Cambridge, called Moonlight Mysteries, and let me wander around while he searched for a gift. I saw a few books that Laurie had written, and bought two while Sully was at the other end of the store. He came up behind me while I was looking at a selection of jewelry. “See something you like?”

“Yeah…these ones are almost identical to my tattoo.” I held up the silver trinity knot earrings and looked in the mirror on the counter.

“What tattoo, babes? The henna one? Cause they’re not that similar…”

I smiled and lifted the hair off my neck, pulling my tank top down so he could see the design. “How have you not seen this before? It’s not like it’s new, Sul.”

He traced a finger between my shoulder blades, over the black ink knot work. “I dunno. I guess your hair was in the way, Cousin It,” he grinned at me as I paid for the earrings.

We made our way back to the apartment, where Sully brewed some tea, and we took it outside. Curling up on one of the chairs, I took a sip and looked over at Sully, shielding my eyes from the sun. “What’s the flavor? It’s lovely.”

“Red Sky. Rose hips, hibiscus, ginger and…licorice, I think. Yeah. How’s your eye?”

“Fine, stop asking,” I smiled. “So, we’re gonna take a picnic to the park? And you’ll let me smack you in the eye with the picnic basket?” I laughed, and he shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Awesome.” We finished the tea, and Sully went in to put together lunch, and I grabbed some nail polish from my make up bag, going back out to sit in the sun and paint my toes.

“Very nice,” Sully proclaimed as he came out once more when lunch was packed. “Once your toes are dry, we can hit the park. I’ve got two ball gloves, one baseball, and the most delicious lunch you will ever be fed. Let’s go, you can walk on your heels if you have to.”

When we reached the park, he spread out a big blanket and placed the food on it, standing back when he was finished, looking mighty pleased with himself. “Looks excellent,” I told him. I had no idea where he’d gotten the food, since I was sure he hadn’t made it, but there was cold fried chicken, potato salad, apple pie, and lemonade. “This is a damn fine picnic. One would almost think you had this planned before I asked about it.”

He smiled, sitting down across from me on the blanket. “I might have…and you were just picking up my picnic vibes, so you said we should have one.”

Sully told me more about Laurie while we ate. How they met, how he’d started to get really interested in studying with her, and why Wicca appealed to him more than anything else. When we’d finished with the food, I helped him pack up the containers, and then pulled out the books I’d bought earlier. He saw them and frowned a little. “I have these…you could have borrowed them from me, babes.”

Ohhh…how to explain this without sounding like a total nerd. “I’m really bad with borrowing books, actually, Sul. I have awful habits from law school. Before law school, really. I’m a very, um, active reader. Notes in the margin, dog ears everywhere, spines cracked, it’s not pretty.” He laughed. “You okay if I read for a bit, though? Just until lunch settles, and then we can play.” He smiled at me. “With the equipment you brought.” The smile got bigger. “The sporting equipment, Sully. Jesus,” I laughed and stretched out on the blanket, kicking off my flipflops.

Moving over beside me, he lifted my head and put it on his lap, so I had a pillow while I read. I opened ‘Power of the Witch’ and began reading. I was sucked in after only a few pages, enthralled with the tragic history of witchcraft in New England, and let my head fall to the side as Sully played with my hair. Finishing the first few chapters, I glanced up at him to ask if he wanted to play catch.

“I’m actually really comfortable,” he said. “Although…” he stretched out beside me and patted his chest, so I moved higher, and rested my head there, laying straight out from him so we formed a ‘t’. “Wake me up when you wanna take a break from reading,” he said drowsily, resting a hand on my stomach.

I continued with the book, totally engrossed in it, and didn’t stop until I’d finished. By that time, it was nearing three o’clock, and I figured I should wake Sully. I turned on my side and saw his other arm was slung over his face, shielding his eyes from the sun. Shifting so I was laying alongside him, I ran a hand under his shirt, grazing his skin lightly. His arm curled around me, and he moaned softly in his sleep. I leaned up and pressed a light kiss to his lips, smiling as he pulled me against him. “Wake up, Sul,” I whispered.

His arm tightened around me. “Don’t want to,” he said, eyes still closed. I ran my fingers over his belly again, harder this time, tickling him, and his lips curved into a smile. “Careful, girl. Two can play at that game.”

I sat up quickly, not wanting to be tickled, and tossed one of the ball gloves at him. “C’mon, lazy,” I laughed. “Let’s play.”

We tossed the ball back and forth for a good hour, with Sully making fun of my throws, blaming it on a lifetime of Yankees worship. “You like Johnson?” he asked as he threw the ball to me.

“I liked him when he was with Seattle, didn’t care when he was with Arizona, and now I’m kinda pissed that he’s making us lose so much. Still, it’s cool that he’s so tall. By the time he lets go of the ball, it’s almost at the plate, like he’s handing it to them. I wish that were enough, though, damn. My eighty-six year old grandma can pitch better than he has been lately. And she’s dead.”

He laughed and caught the ball, and headed over to where we’d left our stuff. Packing up the food containers and the blanket, we headed back to his place.

I helped him clean up and then went for a quick nap. I’d only been resting for a few minutes when I heard Sully rustling around in his closet, and opened my eyes to see him wearing just his jeans. “Sorry babes,” he said without turning around. “Just trying to find a shirt…I’ll be outta here in a minute.”

I slid a pillow over my head and tried to ignore how hot he looked standing there. I felt the bed depress next to me, and pulled the pillow away. “S’up?”

“Just wanted to see how your eye’s doing. Still looks kinda nasty. Want me to get see if I can get you something for it? There’s a pharmacy just down the road…maybe some ointment or something?”

I shuddered involuntarily. “Ugh. I HATE the word ointment. It’s so…ugh.” I shuddered again and he laughed. “Dude, I’m serious! It’s right up there with ‘moist’ and ‘panties’.”

“Not a bad combo,” he grinned. “Moist panties. Although, yeah…I see what you mean. They’re not nice words.” He bent and kissed the side of my face that was hurt. “I bet Laurie will have something for it. I’ll ask her when we get there. Okay, you rest. I’ll wake you up in an hour.”

I dozed until 5:30, and then Sully peeked his head in the door to tell me we had to go soon, so I hopped in the shower, trying to wash the sleepiness away. Toweling off, I pulled out of my bag a long, flowing Cavalli skirt Trish had scored me from a Vogue shoot, and put on a white ribbed tank top, wrapping a wide, woven brown belt around my waist. Adding the earrings I’d bought earlier, I slid some chunky, dark wooden bracelets on my left wrist, and applied a coat of mascara, and some lip gloss. Looking at myself in the mirror, I realized how much I wanted this woman to like me. She was so important to Sully, and he’d become so important to me. I opened the bedroom door and found him poised to knock. “Hi…am I dressed okay? I wasn’t sure what to wear.”

He smiled and drew me into a hug. “You look great. Very pretty, but not overdone. Relax, babes. Now…have you got a bag I can throw a bottle of wine in? Cause we’re taking the bike.”

I nodded, and then looked at him. “The bike? What bike?”

Ohhhhh my. I remembered reading on the Chopper Works website about the Godsmack bike, but it was even more gorgeous up close. Tons of chrome, beautifully designed, it was quite possibly one of the coolest bikes I’d ever seen. Thankful that I’d opted to leave my hair down in its natural waves, I pulled on the helmet Sully offered me, and slung my bag over my shoulder, tucking my skirt around my legs. Wrapping my arms around his waist as he got on, I leaned forward and squeezed him tight. He patted my leg and started the bike.

Salem was only sixteen miles from Boston, but it felt longer and I was enjoying the ride so much that I was almost disappointed when we slowed down to the town speed limits. The Cabot house was an old Victorian mansion that had belonged to a sea captain in the 1800s, and it looked like it had been recently restored. Sully led me around back and I saw that the garden had a set of steps that led down to the shore. Laurie was sitting on the back porch, and she stood up as we approached. I fell back a little as she came forward to hug Sully, and watched as they embraced. She held him at arm’s length, smiling, and then turned to me. “And you must be the lovely Charlotte.”

I saw Sully’s expression turn to worry at her use of my full name, but I smiled to reassure him. For some reason it felt right for her to call me that. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you. This is a beautiful house. Do you do the gardens yourself?”

She linked her arm through mine and walked me towards the little plot of land where I could see vegetables growing. “I do this part myself, and the rest of it I leave up to a very talented group of young men who come once a week.” She lifted a basket off the ground and gestured ahead of us. “Now…I haven’t made the salad yet. What shall we have?” The two of us spent the next ten minutes picking handfuls of plump tomatoes, pulling up carrots, and trying to find the perfect head of lettuce. We returned to the porch and Sully grinned at us and handed me a glass of iced tea.

“Thanks, Sul.” I turned to Laurie. “Shall I go in and wash these?”

“Yes, please do. That will give Sully and I chance to talk about you behind your back,” she smiled at me, eyes dancing with mirth. She lowered her voice and bent her head to mine. “And then I’ll come and make the salad and you and I can talk about him.”

I winked at Sully as I passed him, and went into the house, finding myself in the kitchen. Watching the two of them through the window, I smiled as I rinsed the carrots in the sink. Something brushed against my leg and I looked down to see an enormous beast of a cat staring up at me. “Hi, beautiful,” I bent down to run a hand over its glossy coat, and the cat arched into my touch. “Awww, aren’t you pretty? And so friendly,” I said as it began purring.

“What have you done to Isis?” Laurie said in shock behind me. I whirled around, eyes wide, and started to stammer out an apology. “No, child, nothing like that. But that cat hates everyone. Show her, Sully.”

“I’d really…rather not,” he said slowly, backing away.

She sighed. “Isis tried to eat Sully the last time he was here. Didn’t you, you bad, bad kitty!” She wagged a finger at the cat, who purred demurely and wound herself around my legs. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at Sul, who was eyeing the cat warily from across the kitchen.

“Where’s your bag, girl? We should break open the wine and have a toast, or ten.” I pointed at my bag, and he drew out the bottle of red, handing it to Laurie. She got three goblets down from a glass cabinet, and handed one to each of us, filling them halfway. Sully raised his glass and cleared his throat. “May you live as long as you want, and never want, as long as you live.”

We all took a sip, and then Laurie raised her glass. “May the most you wish for, be the least you get.” Taking another sip, she looked to me and smiled.

“Um…May your home always be too small to hold all of your friends.” I raised my glass at both of them, and drank.

Twenty minutes later, we’d opened another bottle. I was sitting on the kitchen counter, Sully was leaning against the counter beside me, and Laurie was sitting in a rocking chair across from us. “I got one, I got one!” I said loudly, holding up my glass. “May the wind at your back…always be your own,” I giggled. Father Sean had told me that one. Once we’d all stopped laughing, I waved my hand and started again. “Okay, one more, and then…should we eat?” Laurie nodded, and gestured for me to continue. “May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.”

“Sláinte!” Laurie tilted her glass back and drained it, and Sully and I followed suit.

We decided to forego dining indoors, and piled the food on our plates to take outside. I sat in a big deck chair by the edge of the porch, and looked around in surprise as the air around me warmed immediately. I stole a glance at Laurie, and she laughed, holding up an extension cord. “Heat lamp, sweetie, the magic of electricity.”

We ate, and talked, and ate some more, and continued talking, until the three of us were stuffed. Two helpings of grilled salmon, baked potatoes and the most delicious salad I’d had, ever, had made me a happy, and a little bit sleepy, girl.

“So, Miss Charlotte, I hear Sully took a swing at you this morning. Perhaps I could get you some balm for your face, dear?” Taking my hand, she waited as I hoisted myself out of the deep chair, and led me inside, to her greenhouse. I stood in awe, staring at the multitude of plants, ones I didn’t even recognize, and was hit with the overwhelming scent of lilies. There were dozens of them in bloom, and I walked around the huge room, stopping every few feet to smell one. “They’re my favorite,” she said over her shoulder.

“They’re gorgeous,” I said as I inhaled deeply from a large, white one. The smell was intoxicating.

“Here we go. I’ve made you a little paste. Just put it on your face for a few minutes when you get up, and then rinse it off. It’ll help with the healing.” She cupped my cheek gently, and tilted her head at me. “Would you like some help with the other?”

Sighing, I shook my head. “No. If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about, that’s something I need to figure out on my own. But thank you. That’s a kind offer.” I took the little jar from her and held her gaze. “I wanted to tell you…about Sully? I really do care for him. I know it might look like I’m using him, or like I’m with him for the wrong reasons, but-”

She cut me off with a wave of her hand. “Child, I know you care for him. It’s as obvious as that mark on your face. You wear your heart on your sleeve, you know. And as for the other, you’ll figure it out. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. If not…well, every ending is a beginning and for witches, this is law,” she smiled at me.

“Where they enter in, from there they must withdraw,” I completed for her, and her eyes widened.

“You’ve read my book, I see.” She led me out of the greenhouse and back towards the kitchen, where Sully was doing the dishes.

“Couldn’t put it down,” I said honestly, sliding an arm around Sully’s waist. He turned and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Need some help?”

“Nope, just finishing up. Lor, you mind having company for the night? I’m not sure I should take the bike after all that wine.” He wiped his hands on the dish towel and linked his arms around my waist with my back to him.

“No, no, that’s fine. I was expecting you would stay, anyway. The guest room is made up, and you know where to find everything you need. I’m turning in, babies,” she kissed us each on the cheek. “I’ll see you both in the morning. Stay up as late as you like, I’m on the top floor. I won’t hear a thing unless you crank the stereo out front,” she smiled.

I watched her walk away, black skirts trailing behind her, and I leaned back against Sully, feeling warm and happy and relaxed. “She didn’t say anything about the back stereo,” he murmured in my ear. Flipping a switch, the cd player powered up, and classical music filled the kitchen. I stepped out to the porch, and found it was playing softly there too. He changed the cd, and James Taylor started singing wistfully about Carolina. I walked down the steps to the grass, and slid off my sandals, relishing the feeling of cool earth under my feet.

“C’mon, girl,” Sully took my hand and we walked down to the beach. Lifting my skirt as we reached the sand, I gingerly dipped one foot in the water, and winced. “Cold?”

“If I left my foot in there any longer, we could snap it off,” I grinned at him in the twilight. We walked along the water for a few minutes, picking up shells, and dodging the waves that threatened to catch us out. By the time we got back to the yard, the night was dark, and the cd had changed again. I linked my arms around his neck. “Dance with me?”

He smiled, and pulled me close. “I’m starting to really like this song,” he said softly, as Dire Straits sang about Romeo and Juliet.

I leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder. “I like it better now that it’s not followed by me getting on a plane and leaving you.”

He slid a hand up my back, cupping the back of my neck. “Me too.” We danced for that song, and the next one, and the one after that, only stopping when I’d begun yawning. “Bedtime, girl.” I followed him up the steps and waited as he turned everything off, before leading me up the staircase to the second floor, and into a huge bedroom. A queen sized bed sat in the middle of it, covered in a worn quilt, and I sank onto it, covering my mouth as I yawned again. Sully stood in front of me, smiling. He shrugged off his tee shirt and handed it to me. “You can sleep in this. I’ll be right back, okay?”

I smiled and watched him leave, touched that he was being so sweet, in keeping with his word of the ball being in my court. I slipped out of my clothes and pulled on his shirt, and curled up under the heavy quilt. The room overlooked the back yard, and with the window open, I could smell the salt air. Sully came back in a few minutes later, and dropped his jeans in a heap on the floor before getting in beside me. I turned on my side to face him, and took his hand in mine on top of the covers. “Thanks for bringing me here. She’s such a cool lady.” I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “And thanks for your shirt, and for not rushing me.”

He looked at me for a long time before responding. “I’m pretty sure you’re worth the wait,” he said quietly. Nudging me so I’d roll over, he curled up behind me with his arm around my waist. “Thanks for the dance, princess. Sweet dreams.”


I woke early to the sound of the surf crashing on the shore, and saw that it wasn’t even light out yet. Sully was still asleep, one hand under his pillow, the other resting on my hip. I slipped out of bed, and found his jeans on the floor. Pulling them on, I grabbed a crocheted blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders, heading downstairs.

Pushing open the back door, I stepped onto the porch and smiled as the sea air hit me. I rolled up Sul’s jeans and went down to the beach. The tide was going out, and I walked along the damp sand, the wind whipping my hair around my face. I continued down the beach until the purple and pink light of sunrise appeared on the horizon, and then turned back.

Laurie greeted me on the porch, holding out a steaming cup of coffee. “Morning, early bird. Are you always up with the sun?”

I laughed. “Absolutely not. But it’s so beautiful here, I felt like I was wasting it by staying in bed. Thanks for the coffee.” I pulled my legs up and sipped from the hot mug, gazing around the yard. “It’s wonderful that you’re so close to the ocean. I’d love to go to sleep every night listening to it.”

She eyed me curiously. “Why don’t you move, then? Live on the coast. Different ocean over there, but I’m sure you could get a similar sound,” she smiled.

“Well, I…” I stopped, thinking for a moment. “I have absolutely no reason not to, I suppose. I mean, real estate must be insane near the water, but I guess I could look into it. The dogs would love it.”

“Speaking of furry friends,” she nodded her head to the foot of my chair, where Isis was gazing longingly at my lap. I lifted my mug and patted my leg, and she jumped up, kneading my thighs gently before settling down, purring loudly. “I must finish up in the kitchen, Charlotte, excuse me. Blueberry muffins,” she winked at me.

I sat with Isis purring contentedly on my lap, and listened to the water and the birds, and nothing else. I loved my house, my neighborhood, but sometimes I longed for the solitude of living by the sea. I promised myself that I’d call my estate agent when I got back to San Fran, and discuss changing properties.

“Woman!” I looked up to see Sully leaning out of the upstairs window. “Get your ass up here and gimme my jeans,” he laughed. I giggled and deposited Isis on the porch, stealing a warm blueberry muffin on my way through the kitchen.

“Hi,” I grinned as I opened the bedroom door. I handed him the muffin and slid the jeans off, tossing them on the bed. “Sorry ‘bout that. I just borrowed them to go for a walk.” Taking my clothes in one hand, I went into the bathroom down the hall to change, and then went back to the bedroom to return his tee shirt.

“Thanks, doll. You sleep okay?” I nodded and went over to the window. He came up behind me and placed a hand on my back. “We should take off soon, but we can come back again, if you’d like. If you’re gonna…um, stay.” I turned to face him and he cupped my cheek. “There’s still no pressure, and you don’t have to decide anything. I’m just saying, Laurie’s cool with having us back again. Anytime.”

I nodded slowly. “I wanna stay. If you’re sure that’s alright with you. Just promise me you’ll tell me if it gets too much? If you start needing more space? Okay?” I hugged him tightly and brushed my lips over his cheek. “So… what’s the plan for today?”

He took my hand and led me downstairs. “I thought I’d leave that up to you. We can do anything you like.”

I stopped on the stairs and grinned. “Anything?”

We said our goodbyes with Laurie, making plans to come back and see her in a week, and then drove back to Sully’s place. Both of us showered and changed, and then I wrote out a list of all the stuff I wanted to do for the rest of the day. We sat on the couch in the living room, and Sully was silent as he read the list. “You wanna do ALL of this?” he said finally. “Today?” I nodded. “Okay darlin’. You gonna be alright walking around all day in your boots?” He gestured at the brown cowboy boots I’d put on.

“You bet. Stop stalling, let’s go!” I dragged him out the door, and we hopped on a bus, changing twice to get to the aquarium. We spent two hours watching the penguins, turtles, the dolphin show, and I hid behind Sully as we checked out the sharks in the enormous tank. We walked slowly around the huge structure, and I watched in awe as a diver got in.

“Babes…my hand is starting to lose feeling,” Sully said quietly, and I looked down. I hadn’t realized I’d been squeezing it quite so hard.

“Sorry,” I whispered, and let go. A shark came up suddenly and nosed the glass in front of us, and I let out a shriek, scaring the group of school children behind us. Clapping a hand over my mouth, I backed away slowly. Sully put an arm around me, shaking with laughter.

“Maybe we should do the next thing on the list, doll,” he suggested and led me outside, hailing a cab. We got out at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and were just in time for a lecture on Thoreau’s Walden, before heading to see a photo exhibition of the same theme.

After our intake of culture, we grabbed lunch at The Border, and I insisted on having several Coronas to drown out the inferno-hot buffalo wings. An hour, and three beers later, and I stumbled out to the street again, Sully right behind me. “Ducks!” I announced, pointing to the next item on the list, a duck tour.

“You know what? Why don’t we do the Charles River Cruise, and then you can see the ducks, but it’ll be more laid back. Possibly nicer for your tummy since you’ve just inhaled three beers and an astonishing amount of chicken,” he grinned.

I leaned over and rested my forehead against his. “You…are brilliant!” Taking his hand, I started to lead him away, in the wrong direction. He gently reminded me that the Cambridgeside Galleria was the other way, and I took off again. Several minutes later, we were seated comfortably on the boat, the only passengers on the 1:30 cruise, watching rowers and sailboats and more ducks than I could count, though I did try. We were sat at the back of the boat, and I leaned back against Sully, the waves rocking the boat gently, adding to my feeling of slight inebriation.

“You okay, girl?” He brushed my hair off my face and I looked up at him and smiled. “Sleepy?” I nodded. “Nap for a bit, if you like. Cruise goes for another forty minutes.”

I sat up suddenly. “I don’t wanna sleep. I need to wake up. Stay here for a sec.” I walked over to the cabin of the boat, and stuck my head inside. “Hi!” I introduced myself the captain, and told him I was escorting my brother, who I mentioned was blind since birth, around the city, and asked if he’d mind giving a very special, very detailed chat about the sights on the cruise. He peered out the cabin door and looked at Sully, who was sitting with his arms resting on the chair backs, sunglasses on, staring straight ahead.

“No problem, little lady. You just go and enjoy yourself, I’ll see what I can do.”

I returned to Sully, and tried not to giggle as the captain launched into his descriptive spiel about the buildings. He gave an excellent talk, vividly depicting each historic sight, and spent an inordinate amount of time trying to explain what a sunset over Beacon Hill would look like, “but I just can’t do it justice…if you’ve never seen a sunset,” he said sadly over the sound system.

“Charlie…” Sully said slowly, starting to take off his sunglasses. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

I quickly pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Ooooh, careful, honey. Your retinas are very sensitive to light. Even though you’re blind,” I said solemnly.

“I’m BLIND?” He practically shouted.

“Hush. Since birth, remember? So tragic…” I turned to face forward again, and could feel his eyes on me. “I don’t know why you’re staring at me,” I said quietly. “It’s not like you can see anything.”

He doubled over with laughter, burying his head in his hands. “Can’t take you anywhere, woman.”


We finished the cruise, and I ‘helped’ Sully off the boat, thanking the captain profusely for his excellent descriptive skills. “Oops, watch it, bro, don’t fall on the step up to the pier,” I warned Sully, jerking at his arm quickly. He stumbled behind me, shaking his head and laughing.

We walked away from the boat, and he pulled out his cell phone. Opening it, he said hello, and looked at me. “Oh yeah, she’s right here…” Covering the mouthpiece, he whispered, “It’s God.” He spoke into the phone again as I laughed. “What’s that? Yeah…yeah, I’ll tell her.” He closed the phone and stared at me seriously. “Yup. You’re going to hell,” he informed me as he walked off.

Giggling, I followed behind him, and we headed for the Sam Adams Brewery. The tour lasted forty minutes, and it wasn’t until the end that I realized we were in the presence of greatness. “Oh…my…God…” I said in a low voice. “Sully,” I hissed. “SULLY!”

He looked around and saw who I was staring at. “Oh no,” he muttered. “Down, girl.”

The group of us that had been on tour were all over 21, and we settled onto stools around the bar, to sample some special malts. I tried to stare straight ahead, and tapped my boot rapidly against the stool leg, drumming my fingers on the bar. I took a deep breath, and glanced at Sully. “Um…”

“Don’t do it,” he warned.

“I have to.”

“Charlie…I will drag your ass out of the bar so fast-”

I whirled around on my stool. “Hiiiiiiii….” I cooed. “I’m Charlie. I’m a HUGE fan.” I could hear Sully sighing behind me. The bartender came out to bring us another round on the house. “Buy you a beer?” I asked, and was rewarded with a loud belly-laugh.

“That’d be great, darlin’. Should we get your buddy to join us? He looks like he’s about to spontaneously combust,” he gestured to Sully.

“Great idea! Sully,” I glanced over my shoulder, jerking my head towards the empty bar next to us. “C’mere.” He came over, head hanging, looking completely embarrassed. “Sully, this is Dave ‘Boomer’ Wells, of the Red Sox. Formerly of the Yankees,” I added. “Still can’t believe you switched teams, by the way,” I muttered to him. “Boomer, this is Sully Erna, of Godsmack. He’s-”

“If you tell him I’m blind, I will empty that pint over your head,” Sully narrowed his eyes at me.

“Heh…I was gonna say you’re embarrassed that I’m making a scene.” I winked at Boomer. “He’s still a little worked up cause I told the boat guy he was blind. We got a very graphic tour out of it though, you’d think he would appreciate it!” I took a sip of the second pint, and the guys started chatting about the season so far.

Half an hour later, Sully and I left the brewery to head back to his house. We’d both scored an autograph, and I got a kiss on the cheek from my one-time pitching idol. Sully had gone to hug him, but Dave had backed away a little, going for the handshake instead. “So…how old is he?” Sully asked as we got into a cab.

“Um…he was born in ’63 so…he’s 42,” I answered.

“Hmmm,” Sully murmured quietly. “And does he have any kids?”

“Yeah, two boys. Brandon and…” I sighed. “Lars. What’s your point, Sully?”

“Nothing,” he said, shrugging. “Guy’s got the same birth year as James, has a son with the same name as Ulrich, I’m just sayin’. Interesting.” He stared out the window.

“He also drives a chopper, likes hunting, and eats a lot of red meat. Think that’s interesting too? Do you KNOW how many people were born in 1963? You’re being ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“Then why are you getting so upset? I’m just pointing out the fact there seem to be a lot of reminders of Met, no matter where we go. Just seems like a sign or something. I dunno,” he kept staring out the window.

We didn’t say anything else for the rest of the drive back to his house. I waited as he unlocked the door, and went into the bedroom, feeling like I wanted to cry. There was a soft knock on the door and he stuck his head in. “Charlie? Feel like pizza for dinner, girl?” He came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. “Hey…are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lied, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. “Pizza’s great. I’ll be out in a sec.” I wriggled out of his arms, and he left the room. Sitting on the bed, I tried to kick my boots off. They didn’t budge. I crossed my legs and pulled at the left boot, and fell backwards on the bed. Cursing under my breath, I tried again.

Muttering about the poor quality of leather goods these days, I wandered into the living room where Sully was on the phone, ordering dinner. He hung up, saying he’d call back, and looked at me curiously. “…Yes?”

Pouting, I stuck out my left foot. “Can’t get my stupid boot off,” I said, resisting the urge to kick something. He patted the space beside him on the couch, and I sat. Taking my foot on his lap, he grabbed my boot with both hands and pulled. Nothing happened. He got onto the floor, bracing himself against the couch, and pulled again. I saw him smirk, briefly, and sighed. “What.” I said in a huff.

“Nothing,” he said innocently. “Just thinking…you may actually die with your boots on.” I rolled my eyes but couldn’t keep from smiling. He pulled harder, and my ankle made a cracking sound. “Shit! You okay?” I nodded. Hadn’t felt a thing. Yanking harder, he lost his grip on the boot and went flying backwards, banging his head on the piano stool. It wasn’t at all funny, but a giggle escaped my mouth anyway. He stood up, and pointed at me. “You?” he laughed, “can get your own damn boots off. For all I care, you can become the little old lady who lived in a…a boot!” he glared at me, the corners of his mouth still twitching.

“Please…I won’t laugh again, I swear. Sully, c’mon. I can’t get them off. Help meeeeeee,” I pleaded, and he laughed again. A few more pulls on the left one, and he finally managed to wiggle it off my foot. The right one came off with no trouble, and he leaned down, examining my socks.

“Are your feet even the same size? Cause that makes no damn sense,” he said, looking from the left one to the right, and then up at me. “You gonna tell me why you were crying, then? I didn’t mean to make you upset, doll. I just thought…what are the chances, you know?”

I stood and took my boots into the bedroom, and he followed behind me. Sitting on the bed, I looked down at my hands. “I’m just tired of people telling me who they think I should be with. And that’s what if felt like you were doing. Like you were suggesting I shouldn’t be here.” I glanced up at him. “James thought I should be with Lars, Pep thought I belonged with James, Lars figured I had come to New York to hang out with you, and now you tell me you think I’m supposed to be with Metallica. Like, in general. Maybe you didn’t mean it like that, but…fuck the signs, Sully. I’m here with you. I want to be here, with you. If that’s not what you want, then fucking tell me, don’t try to spell it out for me by pointing out that Dave Wells is the same age as Het. Cause Boomer’s also left-handed, which James is not. He weighs about 250, which James does not. He lives in Florida, not San Francisco, and he listens to J Lo. So really? There aren’t that many similarities. Stop looking for them.”

He walked over to the bed and ran a hand over my hair. “That was a very nice speech,” he said softly. “And I’m sorry for suggesting anything other than the fact that I definitely do want you to stay here. With me. Now, then. Do you, or do you not, want anchovies on the pizza?”

“Not,” I said quietly, and held my arms out. He stepped into them, hugging me, and kissed the top of my head.

“Sorry,” he said softly.

“Me too.”

He stepped back. “Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.”

I looked down. “While you were in the bathroom at the brewery, I told Dave you had a huge crush on him, and had designed a website about how pretty he was, called Big Bad Baby Boomer.” I bit my lip. “And that you’d photo shopped a bunch of pictures on the site to make it look like he was wearing makeup.” I glanced up at him. “And a tutu.” Looking down again, I mumbled, “and maybe a tiara.”

I stole another glance at him, and his jaw was hanging open. Suddenly, he spun on his heel, and left the room, yelling over his shoulder. “We’re having ONE topping on the pizza, doll, and you know what it’s gonna be? Fucking ANCHOVIES, baby!”

Grinning, I changed into faded jeans and an old David & Goliath tee with a red Camaro on it, and the words “My Other Ride is Your Mom”, that had belonged to an ex-boyfriend. I sank into the couch in the living room, and flipped through an ancient FHM magazine. Picking up one of the beers that Sully had placed on the coffee table, I took a long pull from it, and looked up to see him staring at me. “S’up, dude?” I tilted my head to the side and grinned.

He came to sit by me, lifting my legs onto his lap. “Nice shirt. Pizza’ll be here in half an hour. Movie?” I nodded, and he got up again, passing me a choice of three. I looked at each one, and handed two back, holding up the third. “The Breakfast Club. Good choice. Did you used to be a man?”

I choked on my beer and sat up. “Pardon?”

He laughed. “It’s just…the shirt, the beer, the magazine, the laid back attitude, the love of baseball, the retarded jokes…”

“Are all things that girls like too, yes. What’s your point?”

He shook his head and sat by me, sipping at his beer. “I haven’t got one. I just like how much of a guy you can be, that’s all.” He shot me a sideways glance. “It’s a good thing,” he assured me.

I put my beer on the table, and took his out of his hands, placing it beside mine. “You think I’m like a guy? A GUY?” I straddled his lap and placed his hands on my hips. “Do boys have hips like these?” Bending forward, I brushed my chest against his. “Or breasts, like these?”

“Sometimes men get boobs if they’re really fat…” he started and then closed his mouth, looking sheepish.

“I’m a girl, Sul,” I whispered, and ran my tongue along his bottom lip. “Figured you woulda known that by now…”

“I…I know…I do,” he murmured, hands still gripping my hips. He opened his mouth to me, and I darted my tongue inside. He tasted like beer, and the cigarette he’d had in the brewery when he thought I wasn’t looking. I pulled his hair a little, tilting his head back, and sucked lightly on his neck. And then the doorbell rang.

“Anchovy pizza already?” I asked, surprised.

“Shannon,” he gasped. “I invited him over for dinner. And Robbie.” Rubbing a hand over his mouth, he shot me an apologetic look. “I didn’t know that we were gonna be, um, discussing your girliness. Sorry, doll.”

“No worries,” I grinned at him, and went to let the boys in.

“DUDE!” Shannon laughed and hugged me tightly, before introducing me to Robbie. They’d been playing basketball before they came over, and were both in desperate need of refreshment, so I grabbed a few more beers from the fridge. Shannon handed me the ball as I handed him a beer, and I passed the ball to Sully.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” he laughed.

“Whatever you want,” I smiled. “It’s in your court now.”

He glanced over at Shan and Robbie, who were starting up the Playstation. “Really?” he asked softly. I nodded. “So…I can stay in with you tonight?” I nodded again. A slow smile spread over his face. “And maybe,” he dropped his voice. “Make your panties all moist?”

I grabbed the ball from his hands. “Imma shove this down your throat,” I laughed. “EWWWWW! Yeah, sure, and then you can rub ointment all over me. Gross, Sul. Just gross.”

Giggling, I went to sit by Shannon, and was given a succinct lecture on the finer points of blowing up Tattooine. The pizza arrived shortly after, and we put the movie in, initially all squishing onto the couch to watch it. I got uncomfortable quickly though, and grabbed some pillows from the bedroom, choosing instead to sit on the floor between Sully’s legs, leaning back against the couch. Much to my delight, the pizza was anchovy-free, and I ate two slices of ham and pineapple, and one of pepperoni.

Getting restless on the floor, I got up and grabbed my cell phone, taking it out to the fire escape. I dialed Pep’s number, and Trish answered. “Hellooooooooooo,” she giggled down the phone.

“Hi, sugar. How’s you?” I leaned against the railing and smiled at Sully through the door.

“Great. Pep said he talked to you the other night. You’re in Boston? With Sully? Darlin’, you makin’ the rounds or what?”

“Says the woman currently shagging the lead singer of COC?” I laughed. “Where are you, anyway?”

“Your house,” she giggled. “It was this or a hotel, Pep didn’t think you’d mind. Course, that was before we met the two ginormous men who are also staying at your house. And before I told him I thought they were kinda hot, in like a WWF kind of way. Now he’s rethinking the hotel thing,” she laughed. “I, um, I saw James today. He stopped by to see Pep. He misses you, sweets.”

I sighed. “Did he say that?”

“Didn’t have to. He kept looking at the stairs, like he expected you to walk down them at any time. I hope you know what you’re doin’, Charlie.”

“Who, me?” I asked, surprised. “Hell, no. I have no idea what I’m doing. I just had to get away from there. How’s Pep? How’re my doggies? How’s the tour?” I wanted to talk about anything but James.

“He’s fine, subject avoider. He’s making lewd faces at me right now, and wrestling with your dogs, who are also fine. And the tour is awesome. My favorite part of every night is after the show, when all the chicks come backstage to get autographs and try to mack on Pep, and I just waltz in and take him away with me. Right, baby?” I could hear Pep’s agreement in the background. “Hang on, he wants to chat.”

He came on the line and I could hear the smile in his voice. “S’up, baby girl? Everything okay with you? Staying outta trouble with the Boston boy?”

“For now,” I laughed. “Ask me again later. You takin’ care of my girl? And my dogs? I’m so glad you’re staying at the house. How’re you feeling? All better? No side effects?”

“Can I talk now?” he said slowly, and I giggled. “You sound happy, baby. It’s good to hear. Trish tell you we saw Het? He looked okay, but he was not the happiest of campers when he was here. But…I’m sure you didn’t call to talk about Het. So let’s talk about me!”

I laughed, and then we spent the next several minutes talking about the shows, and how he was having a good time with Trish, and how cool she’d been when he finally managed to explain about his latest visit with me. I hung up just as Sully opened the door. “You didn’t have to hang up, I just wanted to tell you the guys are gonna take off soon.”

“S’okay, Pep was finished. I’m all up to date,” I smiled and went back inside. Hugging Shan and Robbie, I tossed the basketball to Shannon, and laughed as Sully looked disappointed. “The ball’s metaphorical, babes. You don’t actually need to carry it around.”

Shutting the door behind them, he walked over to me. “Long day,” he said quietly. “You must be tired.” I shook my head and he smiled. “Not even a little?” I shook my head again. He bent his head to mine and whispered in my ear. “So you have energy for…dancing?”

I laughed, and watched as he put a cd on, and turned the lights down. “Dimmer switch, ooooh,” I smiled as he came back over to me. “Nice song choice. Though, it makes you sound like you’ve been waiting.” Etta James’ voice filled the room.

“Not at all,” he said softly, pulling me close. “I just like the song. Anyway, I told you. You’re worth the wait. Which is why…tonight…all we’re gonna do is dance.” He surprised me with a dip, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “Dance, and sleep.” He brushed his lips gently over my cheek. “And if you’re very, very lucky, I’ll kiss you goodnight.”

We finished the dance, and I went into the bedroom to change while Sully turned out the lights and shut off the stereo. I came out of the bathroom to find him standing by the bed, clad only in his boxers. “Still okay if I stay in here?”

I smiled. “It’s your room. You can stay in it whenever you like.” I walked over to stand in front of him. “So?”

He tilted his head at me. “So what?”

“Do I get that good night kiss?” I said softly.

He nodded slowly. “Close your eyes.” I closed them, smiling as I felt his lips brush my cheek. “Keep them closed,” he whispered, kissing my temple, and his hands gently went around my waist, sliding under the hem of my tank top. “Still closed?”

“Mmm hmmm,” I said, taking shallow breaths as his fingertips grazed my lower back.

“Good girl,” he murmured in my ear, one hand coming up to cup my neck. My eyes were still closed when I felt the faintest touch of his lips on mine. I tried to lean into the kiss but his hand on my neck kept me where I was. “Easy, baby…” I opened my mouth as his lips brushed over mine again, and the pressure was greater this time.

I wrapped my arms around his back, loving the feel of his warm skin under my hands. Needing more contact with him, I hooked an ankle around his calf and ran it up and down his leg slowly, rocking my hips against his. His other hand came up to tangle in my hair, and his mouth pressed against mine harder, tongue dueling with my own as I whimpered and moaned, nearly panting as he broke away from me.

“You kiss me like that again and I’ll jump you where you stand, ball in my court or no,” I said quietly, and he chuckled, pulling back the duvet and sheets for me.

Laying on his side, he wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. “Night, doll.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Metalicious
No Avatar
Blackened
[ * ]
The next several days found us falling into a routine. Waking early, we’d hit the gym and I’d train with Tank, occasionally getting up the nerve to spar with Sully or one of the regulars. After that first time, I always had to wear the headgear. I tried once to talk them out of it, and was met with a great deal of yelling and pointing from Tank and a whack on the butt from Sully.

After a couple of hours of running, hitting and skipping, we’d grab breakfast and a couple of newspapers, and head back to the apartment. Once breakfast was finished, we’d pick a neighborhood or museum or gallery that we hadn’t been to before, or Sully would take me to a favorite place. We spent a whole day in Brookline, ducking in and out of used book stores, delis, coffee shops and checking out JFK’s birthplace in Coolidge Corner. We wandered down Beacon Street and had lunch in the Daily Bread. I wound up buying three loaves of their triple chocolate bread.

In the evenings, we’d either go out to dinner, trying to find somewhere new each time, or have Shannon or Robbie or one of Sully’s other buddies over for take out and a movie, and if we had enough energy, a club afterwards.

On Saturday morning, Sully woke me at eight. It took all my willpower not to yell when I asked what he was doing up so early. “Got a surprise for ya,” he grinned. “But you gotta get up, and get dressed. I’m runnin’ out to get you a mocha, but if you’re not ready when I get back, I’m drinking it.”

Laughing, I watched him leave, wondering what the hell he had up his sleeve. I showered, using the coconut-almond body wash I’d picked up the day before at an organic market. It smelled so good that I kept lathering it on, using almost half a bottle before realizing it. Wrapping a towel around me, I stepped onto the fire escape to see how warm it was.

“Dude…” I heard Sully behind me. “Are you flashing my neighbors?” I giggled and turned around, stepping back inside and closing the door behind me. “Hmm. I’d say you are decidedly NOT ready. Guess that means I get to drink your coffee,” he winked at me and lifted the to-go cup to his lips.

I dropped the towel.

His hand flew to his eyes and he immediately held out the cup. “Damn, woman. I’m doing my utmost to behave around you, and you go and do that? Here, take this.” I took the cup from him and he blindly groped the floor for the towel, handing it to me.

“Okay, you can look,” I said, trying not to laugh.

He sighed. “You’ll do anything for caffeine, won’t you.” I nodded solemnly and he laughed. “Fine. Go get dressed, and pack a bag for the weekend. Nothing fancy. We’re going to Laurie’s.”

I let out a shriek and threw my coffee-free arm around his neck, kissing his cheek. “Really? How long can we stay?”

“Til tomorrow night,” he smiled. “Go pack. I’ll wait out here.”

I threw a bunch of clothes into a backpack and hastily pulled on a snug pair of faded jeans and a thin black sweater. I dumped my bag by the door and yanked my motorcycle boots on, before downing the coffee. “Ready!”

We took the bike again, and pulled up to Laurie’s house a half hour later. I was surprised to see her loading her car. Closing the trunk, she came over to greet us. “Hello, Charlotte!” She hugged me tight, pressing her cheek against mine. Holding my arms, she looked at me, smiling. “I’m so glad you’ve come back. I’m sorry I won’t be around to enjoy your company today, but I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, so you must stay for dinner tomorrow, and we can have a visit then. Mind Isis doesn’t try to maul Sully,” she said quietly. “Been in a bit of a mood today.”

We waved as she drove away, and took our stuff into the house. Leaving our two backpacks in the bedroom we’d used before, I came back downstairs to find Sully brewing a pot of coffee, and unwrapping a plate of homemade squares Laurie had made. Hopping onto the counter, I crooked a finger at him. “C’mere.”

He wandered over slowly, and stood between my legs. “S’up, pretty girl?”

I linked my arms around his neck and touched my forehead to his. “Thanks for this. I love your place in the city, but it’s so lovely and quiet here.” I was so tempted to kiss him, but resisted. We hadn’t come anywhere close to that since the good night kiss, and I was reluctant to be the one to push for more. He was so generous with his hugs and cuddles, and I loved waking up every morning to find his body wrapped around mine. If that was all that was meant to happen between us, that was fine with me.

“Earth to Charlie,” he grinned at me, waving his hand back and forth in front of my face. “Wanna take our coffee outside?” I nodded and jumped off the counter, following him out to the deck.

We took the bike into town after we’d finished, and spent the morning wandering around the little shops. Taking a tour through the House of Seven Gables, Sully quietly mocked me while I quoted the novel. After a loud declaration of “…what other dungeon is so dark as one’s own heart!” though, he called me a nerd and hauled me outside to wander around the gardens.

I insisted on seeing the Witch Museum, though he was reluctant to come with me. I begged and pleaded and he finally relented, trailing behind me as I read over the history I’d learned in school. It was so much more fascinating when I was actually IN the location where it had happened. I turned to ask Sully something and saw him looking sadly at a 1692 map of Salem.

“Hey…you alright?” I came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he gave me a weak smile. “I think I’m gonna wait outside.” He turned and headed for the exit, and I followed close behind, taking his hand as we stepped into the sunlight. He pulled away, and stepped back. “Sorry. I just need a minute.”

I nodded. “Sure. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” I headed down to the waterfront and sat, dangling my legs off the pier, cursing myself for being so stupid. “Nice one, idiot,” I said quietly. I sat there for several minutes, watching sailboats pass, and wondered how Sully was doing. A woman walking two golden labs walked by, and my thoughts drifted to Duke and Fire. I felt guilty for leaving them alone so much, and pulled out my cell to call my house and check on them, when Sully appeared beside me.

“Hi…” he said quietly, looking out at the water. “Sorry I left you alone. I just needed to be angry for a little while. Didn’t wanna do that around you.” He turned and looked at me, taking off his sunglasses. “Laurie and I have had a lot – like, a LOT – of discussions about witch hunts, not just the Salem ones. Lynchings in the South, the Holocaust, genocide that’s going on as we speak, anything where people are prosecuted simply because they’re different…and normally I don’t get this riled up. Disturbed, yes. Furious…I can usually keep a lid on it. But I feel more connected to this, I guess, cause it’s part of who I am.” He sighed.

I looked at him, thinking about what he said. “You didn’t look furious, babes. I’d say you kept a lid on it pretty nicely.” He held up his hand, and I saw it was bleeding. “Holy fuck, Sul, what’d you hit?”

“Tree,” he said, smiling a little.

I stood, and pulled him up with me. “Let’s go back to the house, get some ice on that, okay? And I should probably drive the bike, cause you only have one good hand,” I winked at him.

We got back to Laurie’s, and I threw together some lunch while Sully tended to his hand. “Storm’s comin’ in babes, if you wanna spend any time on the beach, you should do it now,” he said, coming up behind me. “It’ll be too rough to go down there later.” Brushing my hair aside, he laid a gently kiss on my neck. “Thanks for earlier. For not making a big deal.”

I turned around, taking his face in my hands. “Next time come and find me before you hit the tree, okay?” I smiled at him and he laughed. And I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward and kissed him. It was only for a moment, my lips just barely touching his. I pulled away a little and rested my forehead against his. “Beach?”

“Let’s go,” he took my hand, and led me down the beach. We walked barefoot, watching the water foam up as it became rougher. I found three pieces of beach glass, all blue, and put them in my jeans pocket. By the time we turned back, the tide was coming in, and we jogged the last bit to avoid getting wet.

“I think we should stay in for the rest of the day, babes. It’s gonna start pouring in about three seconds,” Sully warned me, as we wiped off our feet on the deck.

“Sounds good.” Laurie had left a note telling us to use whatever foods we wished, and I rooted through her cupboards, finding a bunch of cookbooks. “You okay if I hang out in here and bake stuff?” I asked Sully as he rocked in the chair in the corner. He stood up and leaned against the counter.

“Do I get to eat whatever you make?” he grinned. I nodded. “Deal. I’m gonna grab a couple books, and…” he looked over at the rocking chair, where Isis had jumped up and was making herself comfortable. “And I guess I’ll find somewhere else to sit.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon with the radio on, singing along to seventies music while the rain poured down. I made brownies, biscuits, corn bread and then set to work on dinner. We played seventeen rounds of ‘rock/paper/scissors’ to decide who would go outside to fetch tomatoes for the chili, and Sully finally admitted defeat. He came back almost immediately, holding three huge red tomatoes and a handful of under ripe green ones. “I’m sorry… I didn’t wanna stay out there any longer. But I can go back if you need me to,” he pouted.

I laughed and kissed his wet cheek. “No, babes, these are great. Thank you. Go dry off and I’ll move Isis for you, you can have your chair back.” I chopped the rest of the veggies for the chili and let it simmer on the stove while I encouraged Isis to find other seating arrangements. Sully reappeared in dry clothes and damp hair, and settled into the rocking chair while I pulled out another pan of corn bread.

We ate in the living room, a very gothic but cozy space, with dark red walls and black furniture, tons of candles and books all over the place, and on the mantel over the fireplace, and Sully had a fire going when I brought in the food. The storm was raging outside, and we could hear the rain beating against the windows, but it was very warm and cozy inside.

“You done?” Sully asked when we’d finished eating, reaching for my plate. We’d strung out the meal slowly, and it was past nine. He reached for my plate, and I handed it to him. “I’ll leave these in the sink, babes, but don’t touch ‘em, I’ll clean up later.

“No worries, I’ll help too,” I told him. “Long as it gets done before Laurie gets home tomorrow.” He headed to the kitchen and I stretched out in front of the fire, watching the sky flash outside. The lights flickered, and then went out. A huge roll of thunder sounded and I jumped. “Sul?” I called.

“Back in two seconds, babe. Just getting more candles.” He stomped loudly down the hall so I’d hear him coming, and appeared in the dim light a few moments later, holding up a handful of long tapers. “See? All set.” Placing them in various holders, he lit the candles and the room became slightly brighter, and he lifted a pillar candle. “I’m just gonna go turn stuff off so when the power comes back on, it doesn’t blow anything. You wanna come?”

“Um…yup. Less spooky if we’re together.” Holding his hand, I followed behind him as he carefully turned off light switches, the stove, the stereo, and laughed as he grabbed a plate of brownies and some ice cream.

“It’ll just melt if we leave it in the freezer,” he rationalized. “And that’d be a waste. Phish Food! C’mon!”

We piled all the cushions and blankets onto the floor in front of the fire, and settled on top of them, eating the ice cream straight out of the carton. “You realize I’m gonna get a total sugar high from this, right? And I won’t be able to sleep. Which means, you won’t be able to sleep.”

He shot me a grin and licked his spoon slowly. “Guess we’ll just have to find ways of entertaining ourselves all night.”

I felt my stomach flip over. “Guess so.” A boom of thunder rocked the house again and I jumped a little. Sully put the ice cream down and held out his arms, and I scooted over. “I’m fine. I’m not scared. It’s just loud.” He chuckled as I jumped again at another crack of thunder, and tightened his hold on me.

“Easy, baby,” he murmured in my ear. “All the scary stuff’s outside. Only thing inside you gotta worry about is getting enough ice cream, cause I might eat it all.” The loudest boom of thunder yet sounded, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Whoa, Charlie, easy honey.” He stroked a hand over my hair. I huddled against him, burying my face in his neck. “Hey…” he said softly, turning my face up to look at him. “Nothin’ to be scared of. Relax, okay?” Arranging a couple of pillows behind us, he stretched out on the blankets, pulling me down with him.

I snuggled up to his side, resting a hand on his stomach, under his shirt, tracing my fingers over his sunburst tattoo. He inhaled sharply as my hand ran over the waist of his jeans, and I glanced up. “Sorry, babes.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. Feels nice.” He lifted my hand to put it back where it had been, and I smiled, rubbing his belly again, and moved up, twirling the soft hairs on his chest around my fingers. Pushing his shirt up, I pressed little kisses to his skin, marveling at its softness. He squirmed slightly under my touch, and I pinned him down, sucking one of his nipples into my mouth. He pressed a hand to the back of my head as he arched up, breathing heavily.

“Sit up,” I said softly. He did, and I pulled his shirt off. He bent his head to mine, kissing my cheek, and then my mouth, letting his tongue glide over my lips. His hands went to my waist, grasping at my shirt, and I held my arms up for him to pull the shirt over my head. I reached back and unclasped my bra, sliding it off my shoulders while his fingers frantically worked the button on my jeans. “Faster, faster!” I giggled and he laughed. “We have plenty of time, Sul.”

“Yes, but the sooner I get you naked…” he winked at me, and pulled off my jeans and my pink bikini briefs. “Cute,” he chuckled. They had cherries on them. “Now…where should I start?”

“Uh…start by sliding up a bit so I can reach the button on your jeans.” He moved, and I undid them, pulling them down and dropping them in a heap on top of my clothes. I slid a hand inside his boxers and stroked him lightly, smiling as he closed his eyes and moaned. Tightening my grip, I moved my hand faster, and returned to sucking his nipple, flicking my tongue over the piercing.

He grabbed my wrist and rolled me over, sliding his boxers down his hips. Settling between my legs, he kissed my stomach and worked his way up, licking and kissing my skin every few inches, until he’d reached my face. “You okay with this? Sure you want me to keep going?”

I took one of his hands and pressed it between my legs, letting him feel how wet I was. “I’m sure. Quit stalling,” I grinned at him.

He stroked me gently, watching my face as I writhed under him, before slowly guiding himself into me. Thunder rocked the house again, but my eyes never left his. “Not so jumpy now,” he murmured. I shook my head and linked my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me for a deep kiss, and wrapped my legs around his waist at the same time. He dropped his head, panting as he sped up, thrusting deeper into me. Changing the angle of his thrusts, he moved so he was rubbing against me each time he slid inside, and I tensed as my orgasm built up, and released, making me tighten around him. My name fell from his lips like a curse, hard and angry, and he slumped against me.

I pulled a blanket over us, and ran a hand over his hair, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. “We should go upstairs, Sul. Before we fall asleep down here.” He made exaggerated snoring noises and I giggled. “C’mon. You stay down here and the cat’ll scratch your eyes out in the middle of the night.”

Reluctantly, he trailed behind me, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillows. I tucked the blankets around him and threw a tee shirt on, taking my phone back downstairs to the kitchen. I wanted to call home and ask Pep about the dogs, but I saw I had a voicemail. Keying in the code, I listened to the recorded voice telling me I had one new message, received about an hour before.

“Hey Charlie. It’s James...”

I felt my knees give out and leaned against the kitchen counter for support as he continued. “I, um, have some news for you. I don’t really want to leave it on a message, so maybe you could give me a call when you get this? Doesn’t matter how late, just call my cell.” He sighed. “Okay. Hope you’re doing alright. Call me. Bye.”

I clicked ‘end’ and wondered what the hell to do. He wouldn’t call if it weren’t important. “So call. Dial the number, and say hi. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!” I muttered, and Isis eyed me warily. “Sorry, kitty.” I dropped the phone on the counter and went back upstairs. I could call him tomorrow. Whatever he had to say could wait until then. I curled up behind Sully and wrapped an arm around his waist, kissing his neck.

“Everything ‘kay?” he mumbled.

“Yeah…didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.” I kissed his shoulder and snuggled against him more, closing my eyes.

I woke a few hours later, the storm still raging. Unable to put it off any longer, I grabbed a blanket and headed downstairs to call James. He picked up on the fourth ring. “’lo?”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe, or speak.

“…Charlie?”

Shit. “Yeah, it’s me. Sorry to call so late.”

“It’s fine,” he said softly. “I was up. Hang on…it’s like three a.m. for you, isn’t it? Pep said you were on the East Coast.”

God, gotta love Pep for only giving out the most basic info. “It’s late, yeah. There’s a storm, though. I can’t sleep, it’s too damn loud.” As if to illustrate my point, a huge crack of thunder sounded. “…see?”

He chuckled, and I closed my eyes, comforted by the sound. “Sounds nasty. Hope you’re somewhere safe and warm. Charlie, the reason I called…I stopped by your house earlier today. I wanted to see your dogs, actually, but Chief was there, helping Eddie and Marco move out. They arrested all five men last night, sweetie. They got them.”

I sank to the floor. “What?” I whispered.

“All five. SFPD got an anonymous tip or something…I don’t know all the details. What I do know is that they were scheduled to be taken back to prison this morning, and as far as I could make out, they’ll get a heavy punishment for breaking parole, and for what happened to that waitress. So you’re safe,” he said softly. “Oh, and your neighbor, the older lady behind you? She’s taking care of the dogs now. She seemed pretty cool, although…I think…I think she was flirting with me.” He sounded confused, and I smiled.

“I’m so glad you called to tell me. I figured Chief would let me know if anything happened-”

He cut me off. “I asked to be the one to tell you. I guess I felt like I needed a reason to call you.”

“You don’t,” I murmured.

He was quiet for a minute. “So, you’re okay? I wondered when I found out you hadn’t gone to see Pep.” He sighed, and I could imagine him raking a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I don’t normally talk in my sleep. And I really didn’t remember saying…what I did. But I didn’t mean to push you away.”

I felt tears stinging my eyes. “You didn’t push me away, James. I pushed you.”

His voice was low and I could hear the hurt in it. “Why, baby?”

I wiped at my eyes. “Please don’t, James. I can’t…it’s complicated. I don’t want you to get hurt. I lo…I care about you too much.” F*ck, this was hard. Too hard.

“Charlie, please don’t hang up.” Damn, Het. Psychic much? “You don’t have to explain, I just wanna hear your voice. We can talk about anything. Tell me about where you’re staying. Not where,” he said quickly. “Just…fuck. Anything.”

I took the blanket with me and curled up in the rocking chair, Isis at my feet. “Let’s see. I’m in the kitchen of a big, old house, sitting a wooden rocking chair, and there’s a monster of a cat staring at me, waiting to see if I’m gonna let her up on my lap.” I patted my legs and Isis jumped up, settling onto my thighs. “Ugh. She’s so heavy. Beautiful though, she’s very soft.” I looked up and squinted my eyes, looking out towards the yard. “If I look out the door to the back, I can sort of see the deck, and about fifty feet beyond that is the ocean. I can’t really see it from here, it’s too dark, but I can hear the waves crashing. I was down there earlier, just before the rain started, and it was pretty wild.”

“Sounds cozy inside, though,” he said quietly.

“It is,” I agreed. “It was lovely this afternoon. I baked, and listened to the radio, and tried not to jump out of my skin every time I heard thunder. But the power went out earlier, so now I’m just sittin’ in the dark.”

“I miss you.”

“James…”

“What?” Great. Now he sounded pissed. “’James’ what? Don’t tell you that? Don’t talk about how I feel? Why?”

“Because I don’t want to do this over the phone.”

“Fine,” he spat into the phone. “I just called to tell you the good news, but I guess now that we’ve covered you, we’re done. No need to talk about me, Charlie. That’s fine.”

“James, that’s not fair. Of course we can talk about you. I just can’t talk about…us.” Please, please understand, I silently begged.

“Charlie? You got on a plane and left. You ran away. Again. And you think there’s an ‘us’?”

I started to reply when the phone clicked. He’d hung up.

I turned the phone off and gently lifted Isis to the floor. Gathering up the blanket, I went back upstairs and slid in behind Sully again, hoping I wouldn’t wake him. He was still for a few minutes, his breathing deep and even, and then he rolled over, rubbing his eyes. “You’re shaking,” he murmured. “Bad dream?”

I contemplated telling him the truth, and decided against it. Nodding, I let him stroke my hair, telling me everything was fine, that he wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to me, that it was only a dream. If only.


We spent all of Sunday inside, with the power back on, thankfully, reading and chatting and cuddling on the couch watching old movies. Laurie got back around four, and we ate dinner together, leaving after dessert and coffee to drive back to Sully’s.

I dropped our bags in the bedroom while Sully listened to phone messages, and I flopped onto the bed as he came in the room. “Tired, babes?”

I looked over at him, smiling. “Little bit. Can we stay in tonight?”

He grimaced at me, and shook his head. “Actually, no, you can stay in, but I had a call from a buddy of mine, he’s only in town til tomorrow.” He joined me on the bed. “You cool if I go out for a bit? I won’t be late. Maybe midnight?”

I ran the tip of my finger over the star tattoo on his face. “Course I’m cool. And you know you can stay out as long as you like, babes. Up to you. I’m gonna take a bath, read a little bit, have some tea,” I stretched my arms out above my head. “And hit the sack.”

He leaned over and kissed me, and I slid my hands up the back of his shirt. “Want me to wake you up when I get in? Or should I let you sleep since you didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Wake me up. Please?”

He smiled and kissed my forehead. “You got it.”

I heard him come in sometime after midnight, and felt his arm go around my waist. He smelled like booze and smoke, and a hint of the cologne he’d splashed on before he left. I rolled over to face him. “You smell like the bar,” I mumbled.

He ran a hand over my hair. “I know. I’m gonna shower, I just wanted to say hi, let you know I was back.” He kissed the top of my head and got out of bed, heading into the bathroom. I threw the covers back and followed him. “Go back to bed, doll,” he laughed. I shook my head, squinting in the bright light. He reached a hand up and switched it off. “You gonna shower too?”

“Yup.” I started to pull off his shirt, and got it caught on his head. “Dammit!” Laughing, he helped me with it, and slid my tank top over my head. I turned the water on while he stepped out of his jeans and boxers, and felt him sliding my shorts down over my hips, pressing a kiss to my back. We stepped into the shower and I poured some of the coconut body wash onto his chest, rubbing my hands over the taut muscles there.

His arms went around my waist, pulling me closer. “How was the rest of your night?”

“Fine,” I smiled, moving my hands up to his shoulders and neck. “Had some of that awesome chai tea we picked up last week, read a bit of my book, and went to bed about an hour ago. Very relaxing,” I said as I started working out the kinks in his neck.

He moaned, resting his head on my shoulder as the water cascaded over us. I turned him around, rinsing him off, and grabbed a towel as I turned off the water. Leading him out to the bedroom, I instructed him to get on the bed, face down, and reached for the massage oil he kept in a little box on the window sill. I poured several drops in my hands and tried to ease out some of the knots in his muscles. “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, baby. That’s amazing.”

I bent and kissed the back of his neck, and kept rubbing. Slowing my pace, I made my touches lighter, and more rhythmic until I heard his breathing slow. Leaning slightly to my left, I saw his eyes were closed. I slid down and rolled off him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Night, sweetie,” I whispered.

The next two weeks went by in a blur. I threw myself into boxing, and didn’t make any more calls to James. Sully and I continued our exploration of Boston culture, and I was thrilled when one of his friends scored us tickets to a new exhibit at the MFA. Sully surprised me with the tickets one morning over breakfast. “Busy tonight?” he grinned, flashing the envelope at me.

“Oooooh, whatcha got?” I grabbed the envelope from him and pulled out the tickets. “Wow. How’d you get these? Only really important people are going to this!” I’d seen an article in the paper on it that morning. Tickets were supposedly going for a couple hundred bucks a pop, with the proceeds going to charity.

He chuckled and took them back. “Buddy of mine’s wife works there. I asked him a while back to keep an eye out if there was anything interesting going on, I know you like arty stuff. Figured we could go check it out, maybe grab dinner before? It doesn’t start til like nine or something. You up for it?”

I moved over to sit on his lap and kissed him. “Definitely. Thanks, baby.”

He stroked a hand over my hair, pulling my head against his shoulder. “Tank says he’s seen a lot of improvement in your technique. Mentioned this morning that he thinks you’ve got potential for competitions if you’re interested.”

I laughed and flexed my biceps. “Woooo! Look at me, I got potential! Did you tell him there’s no way in hell I wanna fight with other chicks?”

“Yup. Told him you prefer to keep the fighting verbal, in the courtroom. Proud of you though, baby. You’re doing really well. So…museum tonight?” He hugged me tightly and I nodded. “Cool.”

We spent the day in Cambridge, wandering into various bookstores, listening to buskers, and then I watched Sully get his ass kicked at chess by an old guy outside Au Bon Pain. Heading back to the apartment at six, I shooed Sully out of the room so I could get ready. Half an hour later, I emerged wearing my pink silk dress, with my hair in waves, and Sully greeted me in the living room with a kiss. “You look absolutely beautiful,” he smiled. “Maybe they’ll put you on display instead of the art.”

“Thanks, Sul. You look pretty damn fine, yourself.” He was all in black. Jeans, tee shirt and leather jacket. “Sure you wanna go to this exhibit thing? We could stay here…hang out…get naked…” I grinned at him.

He laughed and pulled me into a hug. “Don’t tempt me. Besides, it’s supposed to be a pretty cool show. And then tonight, when we get home, we can have our dance,” he nuzzled my neck. “And maybe sit out on the fire escape for a while,” he said as he kissed his way up my neck to my ear, “and then I can take you into the bedroom…” he flicked his tongue out, licking my earlobe. “I can undress you slowly, sliding that gorgeous dress off your body, touching your soft skin…” Pressing himself hard against me, he slid one hand down to hitch up my dress. “Kiss every inch of you…” he murmured as he rubbed his fingers over the front of my thong.

“Please, baby…” I moaned. “Need you.” I unbuckled his belt and jeans, pulling the zipper down. Shoving him backwards onto the couch, I straddled him and let him pull my thong to the side before I lowered myself onto him. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…” I buried my face in his neck, moving up and down on him slowly.

He let me set the pace until he felt me tense around him, crying out as I came. “Lift up a little, girl,” he murmured, and I shifted so I was higher up, allowing him to thrust up into me. He closed his eyes, his hands gripping my thighs as he jerked his hips faster. I bent my head to his, sucking on his bottom lip, and his fingers dug harder in my legs. He kissed me fiercely as he came, dropping his hands to his sides. “Damn, baby,” he muttered, breathing heavily. “I don’t think I can walk. Think you can carry me to the museum?”

I kissed his cheek. “Course I can. Cause I’m all strong and shit from boxing.” He chuckled and I moved off him, straightening my dress. “Lemme go get, um, cleaned up, and we can go. Whenever you get the strength back in your legs, okay?”

We took a cab to dinner. Sully had picked the place, Salts, and pointed it out to me earlier in the day. Small and classy, it was packed to capacity, and I was in awe of all the fresh flowers and the candle chandeliers. “This is beautiful, babes. Have you been here before?” I asked as we were seated by the maitre’d, who was also the chef’s wife.

“Nope. First time.” We perused the menu, settling on mushroom tarts and roasted halibut, with a bottle of Chardonnay. The service was amazing, friendly and perfectly timed, and we lingered over dessert and coffee before making our way to the museum. He took my hand as we walked up the steps to the huge front doors. There were people milling around outside, and the entrance was flanked by dozens of large men in dark suits and wearing earpieces.

“Wow,” I said quietly. “This is impressive, Sul.”

He laughed. “You say that like I had something to do with it.” He kissed me quickly as we stepped inside. The interior was even more impressive than the scene outside. A string quartet was playing Vivaldi’s Rites of Spring in the centre of the room, and waiters were handing out glasses of champagne. We handed over our tickets and picked up a programme about the artist. I flicked through it as Sully guided me forward with a hand on the small of my back. “Hey, Matty,” he greeted a big man who ambled over to see us. “Charlie, this is Matt Carson, he’s the one who got us in tonight. Matt, this is Charlie Tyler. She’s impressed.”

I laughed and shook Matt’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for the tickets.”

He led us into the one of the halls where the paintings were, and Sully and I slowly walked around, reading the information about each one. “I still think you’re more fun to look at than this stuff,” he said softly, standing behind me with his arms around my waist. “Did I already tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?” He pressed a gentle kiss to my neck. “In case it wasn’t clear earlier, when I was so distracted that I had to have my way with you on the damn couch…you look amazing.”

I laughed and turned around, linking my arms around his neck. “I’m pretty sure that was ME having my way with YOU, but I appreciate the sentiment all the same.” I took his hand, and we continued through to another room. The paintings in this one were harsher, bolder, and not particularly my style. I was surprised that one artist could have such range.

We were called into the main hall again for a speech by the artist. Sully snagged me a glass of champagne, kissing me before handing the drink to me. “So I can take advantage of you later,” he grinned at me. I giggled and slid an arm around his waist, leaning against him as we listened to the curator of the museum thanking us all for coming. “Damn…how does he know what we did earlier?” Sully whispered in my ear, and I coughed to cover my laugh, almost spilling my champagne.

“Behave,” I said quietly, leaning in to press a quick kiss to the side of his neck. And that’s when I saw him. “What the fuck…” I swore, confused as hell. James was leaning against one of the pillars on the other side of the hall, arms crossed, staring at me with such coldness in his eyes that I had to look away.

“Baby?” Sully looked at me, and then over to where I’d been looking. “Oh man.” He looked back to me. “He had no idea you were staying with me, did he?” I shook my head. He guided me over to a corner. “Charlie…” he closed his eyes and sighed. “That wasn’t very-”

“What the FOCK are you doing here?”

No. No no no no no. I turned and saw Lars right beside us, arms crossed also, waiting for an explanation. I swallowed hard. “I’m here for the exhibit, Lars. As I expect you are. Not that it’s any of your business what I’m doing.”

“Or who you’re doing it with?” he snarled. “What a nice surprise to see you again, Erna. Had no idea you were interested in art. How fortunate that the one show I finally manage to talk Hetfield into attending, is the same one that you come to. Shame about the company you’re keeping these days, though.”

“Easy, Ulrich,” Sully said quietly, keeping an arm around my waist. “Charlie needed a place to hang for a bit. Don’t be a dick just cause you’re surprised to see her. She’s got just as much right to be here as you do.”

Lars was silent for a moment, and I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head. “You’re sleeping with her,” he said to Sully, as though I wasn’t even there. “You’re fucking banging her, aren’t you. Man…” he shot me an evil smile. “Quick work, Charlotte. You’re having quite the summer. I guess the little taste of Sully you had when the three of us were in New York just got ya warmed up, hmm?”

“What taste of Sully?” I closed my eyes as I heard James’ voice. This was so, so bad. “What the fuck is he talking about, Charlie?”

Lars laughed. “What, Het, she didn’t tell you about our little adventure in the bar? And then up in our room? She was the star of the show. Didn’t think she’d have the guts to be with two guys at once, even if Sully wasn’t really an active member, but our girl’s pretty brave. Not brave enough to be honest about it, though, it would appear. And probably not honest enough to tell you, Sully, that she’d found enough time to get back with Het, when she jetted home for the funeral. Old time’s sake, maybe? Or just her inability to go three days without a star fuck?” I winced as Sully let go of me. Lars saw it and smiled. “So I’m right. Figured. Probably didn’t tell you she almost got it on with Pepper, too.”

“What’s your problem, Ulrich?” I spat at him. “You were busy enough with your little groupie when I left New York. Get bored of her too? Did you find another bimbo to send up to your room to kick HER out?”

Lars drained his champagne glass and walked away. James followed behind. I turned to Sully and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Sul…please…”

He stared at the floor, and handed me his house keys. “I think I might crash with Shan tonight.” I squeezed his hand as I took the keys. “I’m not angry, baby. I just need some space to think, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” He shot me a weak smile and walked to the main doors, waving to Matt as he left.

Struggling not to cry at how quickly my world had come crashing down, again, I looked around for James. Maybe if I could explain to him…I saw him talking with Lars across the room, rubbing a hand over his face. I walked over quickly, and Lars glared at me as I approached. “Let me guess. Sully left, and you’d like one of us to fill in for him? Sorry kiddo, I don’t think so.”

“Shut UP!” I hissed at him. “James, please-”

“Don’t FUCKING start with me, Charlie,” he said, holding up a hand. “This is where you’ve been the whole time? Fuckin’ holed up with him? So what, you were just bullshitting the other night when I called, about being by the sea and all that shit?” He shook his head. “You’re a great liar. Must be the lawyer in you.” I felt tears gather in my eyes and looked down. “Yup. Cue the waterworks. I have a feeling that’s not gonna work this time, Charlie. Matter of fact, I have a feeling that nothing you say, or do, can change how fucking furious I am right now. Do you KNOW how I felt seeing you with him? Here I was, thinking you were staying with a relative or something, just taking time to sort yourself out, and in reality, you’ve been fucking YET ANOTHER one of my friends. Lars…Pep…Sully…who’s next?”

“I didn’t sleep with Pepper, James, and you know that,” I said softly, still not able to look at him.

“Yeah,” he said, “I’m not really sure I believe that anymore. I know Pep pretty well, and if a chick’s throwing herself at him, as you did, he’s pretty unlikely to resist. It was a nice story though. Like I said, you lie well.”

“I never lied.” Tears fell freely, hitting the marble tiles under my feet. “I WAS staying on the coast, when you called.”

“With Sully.” It wasn’t a question. I looked up and saw fury burning in his eyes, and nodded. “Christ. You know what? I don’t care. I don’t wanna fucking deal with this anymore. Do whatever, and WHOMever you like. I’m through.” He started to walk away and I grabbed his hand. He yanked it away and then turned so he was standing inches from me. “Do you know how stupid I feel, Charlie? Do you have ANY idea? I showed you just how important you were to me, I told you I thought I loved you, and you left me. Not to get your head on straight, though you desperately need to do that, not to take some time to figure things out, but to come to fucking Boston and screw some other guy. Some guy you apparently had a threesome with while you were in New York with Lars. And you kept all this from me. After everything, you just left. And then you show up here, practically pawing at him in public. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think you could just have your fun here, and then come back to me when you got bored? Maybe you could keep Sully for when you’re on the East Coast? Is that how it was supposed to work?”

“James…stop, please. You don’t understand.” I put a hand on his arm and he lifted it as though to strike me.

Stopping himself, he closed his eyes and took a breath. “I have NEVER laid a hand on a woman in anger. But what I saw and heard tonight makes me want to slap you.” He opened his eyes. “Charlie?” I looked up at him, my vision blurred with tears. “You make me sick,” he said quietly. “I’m glad Cliff isn’t alive to see this. He’d be ashamed to call you his daughter. Now get the hell away from me.”

Taking shallow breaths, I turned and got about ten feet before Lars appeared in front of me. We stared at each other for a moment. “Go ahead,” I said softly. “I deserve it.”

He shook his head. “My best friend in the world just had his heart broken. You think I’m gonna waste my focking time talking to you? Do everybody a favor, Charlie, and leave.” With that, he moved passed me, bumping my shoulder roughly as he went.

I wiped my eyes quickly and went outside to find a cab. Arriving at Sully’s several minutes later, I paid the driver and ran up the stairs to the apartment. I packed my bags, changed into jeans and a hoodie, and settled onto the couch under a blanket, waiting for Sully to come home. Ignoring the tears streaming down my face, I closed my eyes and tried my best to block out the sound of James’ voice echoing in my head.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Member Avatar


I LOOOOOOOVE the museum part. Okay, so, it's horrible in terms of what happened, but I freaking love it. Ahhhhh. :heart: :heart: :heart:

Okay.. Uhmm... More soon? :biggrin
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Fade_To_Black
Member Avatar
Bad Seed
[ * ]
Lars and James are evil....why couldnt they let her explain? But then again, i suppose i can understand that they'd be very pissed.

Cant wait for the next parts!!!! :nanner: :heart: :heart: :heart:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
DealsFor.me - The best sales, coupons, and discounts for you
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Het / Gen · Next Topic »
Add Reply