The One That Got Away.

Rhum Agricole and Aphrodisiac

Jared spends the day with Kelly just talking and cuddling with her. He gives her long, sensual kisses from time to time but he keeps his hands, mostly, to himself. He never tells Kelly she forgot to cover her hickies. He doesn't care if Josh notices them. It's not like Josh would freak out or anything anyway, Jared tells himself. He figures Josh is far too distracted right now anyway. 

While Jared is trying to form more of an emotional connection with her, Kelly is distracted wondering why he isn't fucking her and fretting over how this thing isn't going the way she was hoping. She planned to fuck Jared and then, consecutively but separately, fuck Josh. And vice versa. She wonders if he's afraid Josh will walk into the loft bedroom at any moment but that was silly. They could go anywhere in this 100,000 square foot compound. 

Jared tells her more about his childhood, hoping she'll reveal more about hers. He tells her that his and Shannon's early life was pretty rough. No father around, financially unstable, just the three of them against the world. Things got a little better in his teen years but Shannon had gotten into some trouble. Their Mom dedicated herself to helping Shannon and Jared said he got pushed to the side for a while. He didn't resent it, he said, it was necessary. Shannon needed her. Without her absolute dedication to helping him at that time, who knows where he'd be. In jail, or possibly worse. He did well for a while, eventually falling on troubled times again, but he was able to get his life right again and was doing well. Jared says he's pretty confident Shannon will continue on the right path from now on and is more settled and happier than he's been in years. 

"This sounds more about Shannon than you," Kelly points out.

"Well, Shannon and my mom are a big part of my life," he says. He doesn't mention the tension between him and Shannon in recent years, though lately things are a lot less strained since Josh, his new inspiration, joined the band.

He presses Kelly for details about her childhood. Kelly feels a twinge of guilt as her childhood had been absolutely amazing. She was born and raised in Orlando. Her parents, who were still married, came from very large families. Kelly had no siblings but had many aunts, uncles, cousins (who were like siblings), grandparents, and even great grandparents growing up so she was never lonely. Her dad was a pharmacist and her mom was an orthopedic surgeon. Her maiden name was Shaunessy.

"So, you were Kelly Shaunessy when I first met you."

"When you were stalking me, yes," she replies dryly. 

Emma sends Jared a text to let him know she and Josh are headed back. When Josh returns to Jared's room, Kelly is on her laptop sitting on the bed and Jared is on the floor texting on his phone.

"Hey man," Jared stands to greet Josh who is loaded up with shopping bags full of clothes. He drops the bags and they slap hands. "Looks like you got a lot of stuff to show Kelly."

"Yeah. Hey, thanks man," Josh says about the clothes. "All the equipment is going to be delivered tomorrow."

"Hey, no problem. I'm sure Emma made you get the best."

"Yeah, she did. She's great. So, should I meet you guys downstairs for rehearsal?"

"Nah, take the night to relax. You deserve it. I'm gonna hop in the shower." Jared disappears into the bathroom. 

Josh gives Kelly a long embrace. He closes his eyes and soaks her in. Fuck, I've missed her, he thinks to himself. When they release their embrace, he brushes her hair back to see more of her beautiful face.

"Holy shit!" he exclaims, moving more hair away from her neck to better see the bruises. They were looking worse now with a gross yellow hue encircling a purplish center.