12:51 Blaze It ( Julian Casablancas Fic )

Chapter 2

Waking up at the crack of noon the next day, I walk sleepily into the bathroom and run a brush through my hair, trying to untangle the knots. After applying new eyeliner and looking halfway decent, I put on some pants and walk back into the living room. I make myself an omelette to make me feel a little better, then plug my MP3 into a the stereo to play some music while I draw.

The next couple of days go by slowly, my anticipation of seeing Julian again growing by the hour. Finally, Tuesday night comes around, so I head down to the bar with a reasonably stylish outfit on. I catch myself walking fast multiple times, so I change my song to something more calm to keep me at ease. I walk into the bar at around nine, glancing around the room for Julian. Then I remember, of course, he's on stage singing. I make my way through the crowd to the stage, getting only up to about the third row. I keep trying to make eye contact with him, but he doesn't see me.

"Okay, uh, this song's called New York City Cops."

There's a few whoops from the crowd as the drum hits once, then a pause, then hits again, the same pattern for a few beats before holding a steady pace with the guitar.

"Ow!" Julian yells into the microphone. Then he laughs a bit. "I meant, ah!" Another chuckle. "No, I didn't mean that at all." Then he sings the harmony to the guitar part.

I move along with the music, even though I don't know the words.

"Even though it was only one night, it was . . . fuckin' strange."

I chuckle a bit at the way he swears, still trying to lock eyes with him.

At the end of the song, he says, "Thank you so much, stay wild, New York."

I slump my shoulders as Julian walks off stage without seeing me. So I go to the bar and grab a drink, waiting for him to find me. I'm just about to head out for the night when I hear, "Hey, you made it! I thought I saw you here."

I turn around to see Julian, rainbow feather extension in his hair, the faintest scent of cigarettes and cologne on his body. "Hey, Julian."

He tilts his head at me with a smile. "Well? How was it?"

"The show, you mean? That was spectacular. I can't believe I've never heard of you guys before."

"Yeah, thanks, we have fun."

I nod, looking around the room. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a bit tired."

"Okay. You wanna go back to your place?"

I smirk at him, then grab his jacket and pull him through the maze of people and out the door, where he wraps his arm around my waist, my arm over his shoulders. We talk and laugh the whole walk home, sharing a cigarette between conversations. After unlocking the door and letting us both inside, I ask, "What do you wanna do tonight?"

"Wanna smoke again?" he asks, pulling out his weed.

I shrug. "Sure, man." I take off my jacket, as does he, plugging in my MP3 and playing some music before sitting down on the floor.

Julian passes me a joint, which I light before taking a large breath of, leaning my head back and puffing the smoke up to the ceiling.

He lets out a moan after taking his first draft, running his fingers through his hair before closing his eyes. "Arctic Monkeys. Nice," he comments on the music.

"Mmhmm." I take another breath and blow the smoke into his face, to which he coughs a bit.

After we both calm down from our high, it's already eleven at night. "Fuck, Albert's probably got some chick back at our place. Is it alright if I crash here tonight?"

I shrug. "Sure." I grab an extra pillow and toss it at him, then I go into the bathroom, bringing my music with me. I run a brush through my hair and change into a loose tee-shirt and panties, taking off the majority of my makeup and grabbing my toothbrush. After entering the living room again, I practically choke on my spit. "Julian, what the hell."

He looks up at me from the bed. My bed. "Am I not sleeping here?"

I sigh, looking over to the couch.

He follows my gaze, then takes a breath. "Oh. My bad." He gets out of bed and brings a blanket with him, his pillow too.

I finish brushing my teeth and then go back into my room, crawling into my bed and folding the covers over me. I look to Julian, then feel a bit of sympathy as he struggles to find a comfortable position. The couch isn't even nearly long enough to support his lanky legs, his neck cramped up against the armrest. With a sigh, I scoot over and pull the edge of the covers back. "Hey."

He looks up. "Hm?"

I motion him over.

He grins and quickly crawls into bed by my side, getting close to me under the covers.

"Well, you're pretty comfortable with strangers."

"I get used to it." He wraps his arm around my shoulders and holds me against him, my head resting on his chest. I take a deep breath of his scent, closing my eyes at the feeling.